History was made at Tiger Way last evening (Wednesday) when Axminster Town crashed out of the Devon St Luke's Bowl.

A crowd of 502, the biggest ever, saw the Tigers lose 2-0 in the quarter final to Exeter City's Academy Under 18s, holders of the trophy which is Devon's senior cup competition.

Although beaten by a better side, Dan Prettejohn's men were not totally outplayed and competed well for spells during the game but were beaten by a side which may well have included some future stars for the Grecians.

Axe were without new signing Jamie Short (hamstring) and centre back Chris McGrath, who picked up an injury in last Saturday's disappointing 4-0 defeat at Torpoint Athletic, but Sam Winslade (injury), Josh Lukins (Covid), Joe Chamberlain and Josh Wadham were back fit again.

City looked the more dangerous in the early exchanges and put the Tigers under pressure with a series of corners.

Mitch Beardmore went close with a low shot which went wide after a penetrating run down the left.

That early pressure paid dividends in the 36th minute with City taking the lead when George Spence buried the ball in a goalmouth scramble.

The young Grecians, quick to break, kept the pressure on the Axminster goal and their second goal came in the 42nd minute when the home defence failed to clear.

Axminster rallied before the break when Charlie Wilson, noticing the visiting keeper off his line, tried a 40-yard lob which went over the bar.

And then right on half-time Axe went close with a header from a free kick.

Axminster came out from the break determined to get back in the game and a Wilson raid down the left was tipped over the bar. Jamie Price then went close with a head from a Wilson corner.

Axminster's best chance of scoring came in the 75th minute when a rasping shot from Lewis Waldy ricocheted off the bar.

City dominated the last quarter but the Axminster defence held strong with keeper Jason Hutchings pulling of a great save late in the game to prevent further scoring.

This was by no means the Tigers' best performance of the season but with few efforts on goal they never really tested the City youngsters to any great extent.

Man-of-the-match for Axminster went to Richard Hebditch for his work "fantastic work rate".

It was a big night for the club and their off-the-pitch team dealt well with the occasion from an organisational point of view.

The club involved their youth players in the occasion with the Under 10s and Under 13s acting as mascots and the Under 15s recruited for ball-boy duties.

Club chairman Andy Hurford said afterwards: "All our young players train hard and want to be the best they can.

"Their aim is to play for the Tigers' first team at the highest level and hopefully some will play at a higher standard.

"We already have have several boys training with Exeter City Academy.

"It is a credit to all the coaches and parents that they fully support the club and thank you to the committee and volunteers who are making this happen."

Club ambassador Ray Self, who pioneered Axminster's move from Sector Lane to Tiger Way in a bid to bring a higher standard of football to the town, said he was proud to see so many supporters present.

He commented: "I was great to see so many people at the game. I hope some of them will see how well the club is run and see what great facilities we have and will come more often to support the Tigers. Well done to the committee who worked so hard to put this fixture on. It was a great occasion."