Brilliant Brixham win rollercoaster cup tie

It has been a week of high drama for Brixham AFC, resulting in a memorable FA Cup victory at Exmouth Town after initially staring at a certain exit.

The original tie at Exmouth, who play a division higher than the Fishermen in the Southern League, was not going well, as the home side raced into a 3-0 lead.

The game was then halted for a serious injury to home player Jack Thorne, and subsequently abandoned. Thankfully, Thorne’s injury proved not to be as bad as first feared over the next few days, and it all meant Brixham had another shot at FA Cup glory.

Second time around, on a warm evening at Exmouth, the Fishermen were outstanding.

A delicious free-kick was headed into the home net by Reece Somers and another top delivery from Aaron Wellington saw the ball nodded back into the path of James Moxon, who controlled a sumptuous volley into the corner to double Brixham’s lead at the interval.

Exmouth rallied after the break and peppered the Brixham defence, who were superbly marshalled by Ryan Beattie and skipper Kieran Parkin. Ably supported by full-backs Ben Hopkins and Sean Adderley, Brixham held firm to set up a trip to Willand Rovers in the next round on Saturday.

After their extreme efforts on a Wednesday night, it was no surprise that Brixham looked a little weary for the weekend trip to Bridgwater United on Saturday, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw.

Buckland Athletic, as expected, are lurking around the top positions in the Western League, having bagged three wins from their opening four games. The Bucks also cruised through in the FA Vase with a 3-1 win at Crediton United, Jared Lewington, Sam Morcom and Ryan Bush scoring the goals.