JACK Baxter was the man to salvage a point for Teignmouth in their 2-2 draw with Axminster Town on Saturday.

Baxter squeezed home the equaliser 20 minutes from time in an instantaneous response to the Tigers pushing their noses in front through Lewis Waldy and Jake Quick. After Ryan Tressider scored an early free-kick, the Teigns looked convincing in their lead right through to half-time.

‘It was probably a fair result on reflection,’ admitted Teignmouth boss Liam Jones. ‘I thought we were superb first half but we missed a couple of chances and probably should’ve been more clinical. 

‘Then, second half, for 20 minutes we were woeful and found ourselves 2-1 down, not doing the basics right and we turned it into a football match, which is disappointing. Credit to the lads for getting an equaliser and trying to press to see the game out. 

‘Based on where we were first half I’m disappointed with a point but if we’re not going to win we have to make sure we’re not going to lose, and Axminster are a good side so for us to get a point against them with the bare bones, we can kick on from there.

‘Playing at home, we always want to try push and win the three points. We’re relatively good here and we got ourselves into a good position to win the game and screwed it up after that. 

‘We probably would’ve taken a point before the game based on the form we have been in and Axminster being a good side so we we are disappointed not to win but we need to move on with our point.’

Teignmouth are now unbeaten in five, with two draws against Axminster and a 2-1 win over Peninsula League Premier East champions Ivybridge Town to boast in the past two weeks. The Coombe Valley outfit have struggled to put a consistent team together owing to a squad ravaged by long-term injuries.

‘We’ve been in decent nick the last eight games,’ Jones said. ‘We’ve only lost one in eight, we beat Ivybridge here and went to Axminster and drew. 

‘We’re in decent form but some of it comes down to player availability; we didn’t have Zach [Lee] at the start of the year, didn’t have a centre-back partnership and struggled to get our front three on the pitch at the same time. It’s a shame it’s only coming together now but I can’t fault the lads. 

‘We’ve now got to tick games off and see if we can get into the top six which, based on where we are as a football club, is a great finish.’