Super Stoke on the Peninsula march

Ten games unbeaten, seven wins in a row and five consecutive clean sheets, something very special is happening at Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police.

Their latest success in the South West Peninsula League came from a tricky trip to an improving Axminster Town, where Stoke stamped their authority with an opening goal from Saul Vanes inside five minutes.

The second arrived midway through the first period and a sumptuous goal that came from an audacious Elliot Simson flick that gave new signing Josh Haynes an easy side-foot finish.

Stoke then weathered a brief Axminster storm, with Chris Wearing diving to his left to save a penalty, but the second half was a resumption of dominance from the Torbay team. Victory was sealed by a rampaging run from teenager Lucas Robinson and the dancing feet of Haynes finished the job.

Stoke are sixth in the table but within touching distance of the top five and will be big favourites for the weekend visit of Middlezoy Rovers. The Boradley Lane boys also have cup glory in their sights, travelling to Penzance on November 30 with a quarter-final place up for grabs.

Western League duo Brixham AFC and Buckland Athletic were on FA Vase duty this weekend, and with mixed results.

The Fishermen welcomed Peninsula League outfit Elburton Villa to Wall Park, a side that had beaten Brixham in pre-season, but this was a very different occasion.

Kieran Parkin opened the scoring with a poked finish from a swift Brixham break and a brace from in-form James Moxon either side of half-time sealed the 3-0 victory. Moxon’s first was a back-post finish from a sublime Charlie Johansen cross and the same man provided the delivery for Moxon to bundle home a decisive third.

The 3-0 theme continued at Homers Heath, but not in favour of Buckland Athletic, who exited the Vase at the hands of Western League high-flyers Clevedon Town. Two goals conceded in the opening 19 minutes gave the Bucks a mountain to climb and the task became impossible when Clevedon added a killer third early in the second half.