Uplyme 1sts welcomed Dawlish 2nds on Saturday and were on the end of a 5-1 loss that had the management scratching their heads.

"It's becoming a theme, said Steve Gillan. "First teams have no game, so their 2nds are significantly strengthened."

In this case, it transpired that seven regulars for Dawlish 1sts featured in the game, giving the back four and midfield of Uplyme a tough time for the first half.

Stand-in goalkeeper Mikey pulled off two brilliant saves, but the home team were still 4 - 1 down at half-time playing into a very tough wind. The single reply came from a Jonnie Harris penalty, after great work from Joe Urquart who dummied the defender and drove into the box and was brought down.

The second half was much closer, as Uplyme upped their passing game through the middle three of James Souter, skipper Fin Mclean and hard-working new signing Kieren Daniels. Sadly, they found the Dawlish keeper in brilliant form and he made numerous saves look very easy.

"We raised our game to try and match the level of the Dawlish additions, but they just had one too many quality players. It felt like we had gone up another two divisions, today. Kieren Daniels is a high-quality player and I'd love to see him feature for us, again. He had a great link-up with Fin Mclean and brought others into the game.

"Credit, also, to Dylan Good. He's stepped up from Division Three in Perry St League and is really showing a great appetite to develop. The lads weren't downhearted and we knew we'd given a fair account in the last 45 minutes. Good teams show togetherness, even in defeat, and we are all ready for another tough challenge Saturday when we meet Elmore 3rds."

The Swallows are now in sixth place in Division Four, one point behind Sidmouth Town 3rds but with a game in hand.