TAVISTOCK AFC announced that their “match at home to Manor Farm FC [was] postponed due to extreme weather warnings in the Devon area”, the night before the game, on December, 6.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of local football was curtailed over the weekend with Okehampton Argyle’s FA Vase visit to Portishead Town and the solitary South Devon Football League meeting between Paignton Saints and Newton Rovers being the rare exceptions.

Eight points and eight places separate Tavi and Bristol Manor Farm in an extremely tight Southern League South, with many teams up and down the table harbouring ambitions of pushing on as we approach 2025.

Attentions for Stuart Henderson’s side can instead turn to a trip to Evesham United on Saturday 14, a club currently in the playoff picture who boast a home record of 6-1-2 to date. Sitting third on 30 points, with only Yate Town and Exmouth above them, Evesham are proving to be a strong outfit.

The reverse fixture, at Tavistock’s Langsford Park, is pencilled in for the end of March.

Tavi have one more game after this weekend before Christmas when they take on Westbury United. A single point and a single place stands between those two, making it an especially intriguing affair.

Closing out December and 2024 for the Lambs will be games against Cribbs and Falmouth Town, both of who are in the bottom four and so present chances for a big six points, before the new year kickstarts on the 1st when Bideford come to town.

OVER in the Devon Football League, Bere Alston United’s weekend game was also postponed with no matches going ahead unsurprisingly.

They were scheduled to visit Budleigh Salterton, another golden opportunity for Bere Alston to climb away from the foot of the table with Budleigh themselves struggling in the DFL.

League worries can be put to one side for now for United as their weekend action comes in the Sportslighting Premier Cup, in particular, a game at Marshford, the home of Appledore.

There are a number of other clashes taking place in that cup, such as Budleigh going away to Sidmouth Town 2nd XI plus North Molton Sports Club and Beer Albion hosting Plymouth Marjon and Fremington respectively.

Crossing paths with Appledore will signal the end of pre-Christmas affairs for Bere Alston whose final game of 2024 comes on December 28, taking on Plymstock United at the Bere Alston Playing Fields. Then, hosting Ottery St. Mary at the same location will get 2025 underway.

Ottery are currently in sixth with 25 points and so that promises to be a difficult encounter but Plymstock are in 12th, with a record of 4-3-9 to their name, making a result more achievable in that one and Bere Alston desperately need results if they are to avoid the dreaded drop out of the DFL.

Returning attentions to this weekend and along with the Bere Alston United game against Appledore, other fixtures of note include two DFL showdowns, Thorverton (9th) vs Ipplepen Athletic (16th) and Topsham Town (5th) vs Ottery St. Mary (6th).