Budleigh Salterton narrowly defeat Exmouth Town in Vets Cup

The Devon County Veterans Football League changed its format for the start of the season, dividing the League into Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The eagerly awaited first competitive encounter between the footballing veterans of Exmouth Town FC and Budleigh Salterton AFC, dubbed ‘The Jurassic Coast Derby’ took place on the Friday evening before Christmas, in the Second Round of the Kepring Devon Veterans Football League Cup.

Third Division Exmouth were officially the home side, although the match was actually played at the Greenway Lane home of First Division Budleigh Salterton.

The game, at times, was a tense affair with both defences demonstrating exemplary discipline and organisation. It was, however, still a very entertaining match, with some excellent football played.  

The first period belonged to the Red Robins, who were the more adventurous going forward, with Sam Goodin winning the tussle between himself and Exmouth’s left-sided defender. It was he who opened the scoring on 21 minutes following a defence-splitting pass from Tim Whiteoak, followed by a bit of trickery by Goodin before firing home under the Exmouth goalkeeper. The half-time score remained 1-0 to Budleigh.

At the start of the second half, Exmouth opened with a clear determination to seize the initiative, taking the game to the opposition by doing the majority of the forward marching. Even though, Budleigh when they counter attacked looked dangerous, Exmouth looked capable of snatching a late equalizer.

Two players who made sure they were kept out were Tony Pallett and Tim Nield, and they were rewarded with joint Player of the Match performances in the back line, keeping their goal intact to see the Robins go into the next round. 

While the goalmouth action was limited, it was another cracking advert for Vets football and showcased the ongoing enthusiasm for this format of the game in East Devon. Good luck to Budleigh in the next round of the cup.