NEWTON Abbot Spurs fell on the right side of a nine-goal slugfest on Saturday as Callum Noyce netted the winner in a 5-4 victory over Honiton Town.

Noyce had fellow forward Theo Ramsey and unlikely double-scorer Lewis Breslan for company on the scoresheet.

‘We were quite thin on numbers – we only had two subs and then Kit [Glanville] and me,’ said Spurs Assistant Manager Simon Revell. ‘It should be one we’re winning – you don’t ever underestimate them – but we want to be going up there and winning to keep the momentum going at the end of the season. 

‘We went 2-0 down and we were terrible. The first 40 minutes, we couldn’t have played any worse. It was like we were a different team to the one that got some good results over the last 10 days. They scored two set-pieces and we thought it would be a long slog. 

‘We managed to get ourselves in front; we were winning the game but we were terrible. We didn’t earn the chances, they just fell to us. We went 4-2 up and Bres’ [Lewis Breslan’s] second was class. 

‘We thought we’d be alright with the cushion but another set-piece made it 4-3 and then, before you know it, it’s 4-4.’ 

Revell looked to substitute Noyce, the fifth-highest scorer in the league, to rescue the three points but was presented with a front-line headache.

‘We needed to get Noycey [Callum Noyce] on because he is a match-winner,’ he explained, ‘but we didn’t know where to put him because you can’t put him on the wing because Owen [Green] and Theo [Ramsey] were dangerous. 

‘Rudgey [Nick Rudge] said he was struggling, which almost played into our hands because we dropped Toby [Pullman] into number 10 and sent Noycey on as an out-and-out striker. 

South West Peninsula League Premier East. Honiton Town versus Newton Abbot Spurs. A goal in the dying minutes of the game earned Spurs a 5-4 win over the Hippos
Spurs' Toby Pullman, right, switched role to allow Callum Noyce to come on. (Steve Pope/MDA)

‘We created a few chances on the break – there was always going to be another goal in it. Owen Green was too knackered to run so just whipped it in and Noycey came sliding in, beat the ‘keeper to it and toed it in.’

Keeping a plethora of top forwards happy has long been the issue at The Rec, with five players trading favour to fill the limited places on the pitch. 

‘If you earn a place, you keep it,’ Revell said. ‘We’ve got Theo [Ramsey], Mox [James Moxon], Toby [Pullman], Noycey [Callum Noyce] and Owen [Green], so there’s five forwards and we have to pick three of them every week. 

‘Five games in nine days is our opportunity to switch them round and give them all minutes but, at the minute, Owen Green is so good and so dangerous we can’t take him out.’