Fishermen find their way in brilliant Brixham win at Supermarine

When Brixham AFC departed for a Monday night trip to Swindon Supermarine on Monday afternoon, all on that minibus knew it was a virtual must-win fixture.

After a credible 2-0 defeat at leaders Frome Town, this was the game Brixham had targeted as a potential three massive points in their bid to mount a remarkable escape from the Southern League Division One South relegation zone.

Supermarine are one of the catchable clubs outside the bottom four and a win here, just 48 hours after the previous outing, was crucial, but it all started to go horribly wrong on the M5 between Exeter and Cullompton.

A burst tyre left 16 Fishermen and their coaching staff shivering on the roadside for over an hour, and still with the vast majority of their journey to complete. Once the tyre was replaced, officials in Swindon had pushed the kick-off time back to 8.45pm.

As it transpired, Brixham barely had ten minutes to warm up before the game got underway just before 9pm, and it was perhaps hardly surprising Swindon were the brighter side in the opening half, edging into a 1-0 lead.

The Fishermen regrouped, however, introduced some fresh legs and pulled of a wonderful transformation with two goals inside five minutes, Callum Rose and Kieran Parkin stunning the hosts with the quickfire double.

Supermarine suddenly had to attack and Brixham formed a defensive wall, supported by the springboard of youthful limbs in the shape of Aidan Edwards, Fin Herbert and Lucas Robinson.

The home side then lost their goalkeeper to a red card and Brixham almost added a third in stoppage time. A brilliant win had been secured and while they will need more victories over the next ten weeks to survive, this type of character in adversity will be pivotal.