LYME Regis 1st celebrated their return to football with an excellent 2-0 away victory over Dorset Premier side Wareham Rangers in the Dorset Senior Trophy.

On a big pitch which the Seasiders traditionally struggle on, the opening exchanges were quite even but as Lyme grew into the game chances began to flow with Joe Bond, Fred Parsons and Dan Rendall going close on a number of occasions and Mark Bailey drawing a good save from a long-range drive.

Despite Lyme missing some guilt-edged chances the home side held level at half time with Chris Higgs being called into action to make a smart front-post save just before the break.

The biggest moment of the game came just after the break when a Wareham player headed wide from point blank, a real let-off for the Seasiders.

This seemed to re focus Lyme who regained control and created a number of chances, but it wasn't until the 57th minute when Fred Parsons produced a bit of magic dancing round his marker and squaring to Joe Bond who put his previous misses behind him to drill him from close range.

Lyme continued to press and created more scoring opportunities with Mark Bailey and Rob Fellingham having free kicks well saved and hitting the angle respectively, but it wasn't until the 70th minute the game was made safe when Sam Pollard Jones danced through the home defence to square unselfishly for Joe Bond to grab his second. There was still time for Rob Fellingham to round the keeper only to find the side netting.

Lyme will no doubt feel they were rusty after a five-week lay-off, especially in front of goal, but managers Julien Simier and Mark Bailey were more than happy with the result and the way they controlled the game.

The Seasiders now meet Poole Borough in the quarter finals on January 9th.

Lyme coming Saturday (Saturday, December 19th) Lyme return to Devon and Exeter League Premier Division East action, only their fourth league game of the season, when they entertain leader Feniton who have won all nine of their matches so far with a commanding lead at the top of the table (kick-off 2.15 pm).