Devon and Exeter League Division 6

Uplyme 1sts 2, Central 2nds 1

WITH a number of first team regulars missing Uplyme welcomed Central 2nds to Venlake.

Beddows was the (un)lucky recipient of the vacant keeper's jersey. Nate Gillan, Connor Tate, Mikey Sayers, Tyler Wheeler and Josh Lawrence also stepped up to ably fill the gaps.  Gaffer Steve Gillan took on a player-manager role.

The game started evenly. An early tactical on-field change swapped Ben Prosser into midfield with Steve Gillan dropping into the back four to marshal the defence. This paid dividends when some great work by Prosser in midfield was capped by a slide-rule pass through to Daley Holmes who slotted the ball into the far corner.

Central pressed for an equaliser, their two wide men testing the full backs and causing problems. They levelled up when their tricky right winger beat two players and crossed for a tap in at the front post.

Uplyme restored their advantage when a Jonnie Harris pass put Prosser in to power through the Central defence and finish with another low shot into the corner.

The second half was another even affair. Chances came for both sides, with Uplyme almost adding to their lead when Jonnie Harris megged the keeper only to see it cleared off the line and a rasping Nate Gillan shot narrowly going wide.

Central piled on the pressure for the last 15 minutes but the Swallows held on to claim a well deserved 2-1 victory.

Assistant manager Pete Blandamer commented: "After a couple of overly physical games on rather poor pitches it was great to see two teams keen to play good football coupled with an excellent ref who let the game flow.

"Team spirit and effort was excellent with a seamless transition from players making their first appearance in the firsts. Picking a man of the match is tricky. Gilly has a strong claim, as does his centre back partner Josh. Ben gets the nod for his goal and assist, although I could frankly give it to any member of that team, they were all top class."