THREE front runners moved ahead in the South Devon Football League Premier Division title race this weekend, reports Alistair Muirden.

HERALD CUP

Elsewhere, one of the delayed Herald Cup quarter-finals went ahead with Chudleigh Athletic hosting East Allington United. The visitors progressed into the semi-final courtesy of a Josh Pascoe free-kick, this 1-0 win setting up a semi-final clash against Waldon Athletic on Tuesday, April 15 at Newton Abbot Rec.

PREMIER DIVISION

Onto the aforementioned Premier Division title race and Ilsington Villa continue to set the pace after a 2-nil win over Buckfastleigh Rangers with goals from Dan and Jack Langford.

Hot on their heels are Newton Abbot 66 who returned to winning form by beating Waldon 2–1 in a tight game that could have gone either way. Strikes from Joe Clark Farley and Liam Ashwell edged the game for Sixes who will be hoping for a more consistent run-in to keep the challenge on the front burner.

Newton Abbot Spurs 2nds have moved into 3rd place after Callum Noyce and Jack Upsher netted against relegation-threatened Beesands Rovers. Spurs remain 11 points off the lead with four games in hand.

At the other end of the table, one game produced the same amount of goals as all the other top division games combined.

An 8–3 win for bottom club Elburton Villa over Paignton Saints lifts Villa out of the bottom three and leaves Beesands and Chudleigh in the drop spots for now. In the only other Premier Division duel, Totnes & Dartington and Kingsteignton Athletic shared the spoils, this 1-1 draw effectively taking the Rams out of the title race.

DIVISION ONE

Division One is also turning into a three-horse race with The Windmill, Plymouth True Blues and Plymouth Phoenix all winning on Saturday.

The Windmill beat Newton Spurs 3rds 3-1, True Blues enjoyed a massive 4-0 win over Bovey Tracey, Caleb Needham netting a hat-trick to leave the Moorlanders on the back foot in fourth place. Phoenix moved above Bovey into third thanks to their 2-1 win at Watcombe Wanderers.

Brixham Town picked up their second win in two weeks, a 6–2 home win against Buckland Athletic was just the tonic that moved the Fishermen away from the drop zone. WBB also picked up 3 valuable points in a 5–2 victory over Ivybridge Town thanks to goals from nearly half the team.

DIVISION TWO

The top game in Division Two did not disappoint, unless you are of a Barton Athletic persuasion, as Mount Gould showed their class in a 4-0 win. This keeps the Mounties 15 points behind with nine games in hand and Barton have just three games to play.

There are still five other teams that are in with a shout in this division, including both Babbacombe Corries and Liverton Utd who crossed paths. Babbacombe returned to winning ways with a great 4-1 result against a Liverton side that still have 10 to play themselves.

Newton Rovers and Paignton Saints reserves shared the spoils in an entertaining 3–3 draw at Bakers Park and both would appear to have done enough to not be looking over their shoulders.

DIVISION THREE

In Division Three, the last unbeaten record fell when Ashburton travelled to Elburton Villa 3rds. A 2–1 win for the young Villa team put paid to Ashburton’s hopes of going the whole season without a loss, Ashes remaining just one point clear at the top with two games in hand on Drake.

It is still two from five but two of them stuttered this week. Kingsteignton Athletic 2nds and Waldon Athletic 2nds shared a scoreless draw and Stoke Gabriel TP and Newton Abbot 66 2nds had a slightly more entertaining 2–2 draw but it is a loss of two points for each of those teams in the top five.

Drake took advantage of the other results that went their way when they won 3-nil at Liverton Utd 2nds, strikes from Louis George (2) and Christian Moss moving them into second place and looking good for their second promotion in two seasons.

Down at the bottom, the wheels seem to have come off at Liverton Utd 2nds since they made it through to the Fred Hewings Cup final and with eight league games to play, they definitely need to find some wins to stay ahead of the bottom two.

DIVISION FOUR

Division Four is all but done and dusted as Kingskerswell played their penultimate game and won 4-nil at Paignton Villa 3rds, leaving them just one win away from a perfect season and this week they face the same Villa team in the league cup semi-final.

Elsewhere, the bottom two teams Barton Athletic 2nds and Kingsbridge & Kellaton Utd shared the spoils in an entertaining 3–3 draw at Barton Downs, Dylan Stickly (2) and Mathew Ward were on target for the Torquay side who remain at the bottom with one game to play.

PREVIEWS

With the changing of the clocks, we are well and truly into the business end of the season which means that cup semi-finals are on offer for supporters of grassroots football.

To start with, my game of the day in the Premier Division George Belli Cup between the two inform teams at Newton Rec, where Spurs 2nds take on Ilsington Villa in what should be a great game with a big attendance.

The other semi-final is over at Totnes and Dartington where they welcome Paignton Saints in what should be a close encounter between friends.

In the Division One Dartmouth Cup, there is an interesting tie at Bovey Tracey where the visitors Windmill make the trip up the A38 in an attempt to become one part of what could be an all-Plymouth final for the first time in the history of the SDFL. The other tie is at Devonport High school where Phoenix take on Buckland Athletic 2nd team.

Division Three’s Ronald Cup semi-final number one gets underway at Ashburton in an A38 derby game versus South Brent where the visitors will be looking to stop a possible league and cup double for the home team and finally, the Division Four Les Bishop semi-finals are Kingskerswell versus Paignton Villa 3rds and Templar Way versus Chudleigh Athletic 2nds.

The first South Devon Football League cup final date for this season has been announced and it will be the Fred Hewings final which is the knockout competition for reserve teams across the divisions. East Allington 2nds take on Liverton Utd 2nds on Friday, April 11 at Newton Abbot Recreational Trust with a 7pm kick-off.