Carlsberg South West Peninsula league division one East

Okehampton Argyle 1

Newton Abbot Spurs 4

ARGYLE squandered a chance to take at least a point from this match following on from their heavy midweek defeat at St Martin’s in Exeter.

They dominated play for long periods in the first half but were denied by the woodwork and then contrived to make a series of defensive errors to give the visitors a comfortable victory when a draw would have been a fair result.

It did not take long for the goalscoring to be opened and it was Spurs who took the early lead. Matt Williams played in Joe Andrews down the right hand side and the Spurs’ full back did well to dig out a cross from the byline to find the unmarked Jake Chisholm, who stooped from close range to head home.

Okehampton hit back just four minutes later through their top scorer from last season, Jason Cordice. The Argyle number nine was quickest to react to a loose ball in the Spurs box and sent the ball back over his head and into the unguarded net.

It was Argyle who then put together some tremendous attacking moves and they enjoyed the better of the final 25 minutes of the half with Spurs’ Daryl Kewley turning a Brad Ausden cross on to his own post on 26 minutes.

Okehampton squandered a glorious chance to take the lead two minutes after the half hour but Redd Cann hit the post from close range with only the keeper to beat. The woodwork was again hit, this time three minutes before half time through Dale Chadwick’s effort which came back off the crossbar.

It seemed that the Spurs’ goal was living a charmed life and against the run of play, and the visitors took the lead through Adam Dyson’s low effort from the edge of the area to give his side a 2-1 lead at the break after Oke failed to clear the ball properly.

The second half was uneventful in terms of clear goalscoring opportunities. The visitors extended their lead on 70 minutes when Argyle again played themselves into trouble at the back; Price and Dyson exchanged passes before laying off to Matt Williams who drove home from the edge of the box, giving Oke keeper Aran Dearing no chance.

With five minutes left, Argyle’s Ben Bickle tested Spurs’ keeper Ross Williams with a fine curling effort before Spurs sealed the game with three minutes of normal time remaining. There seemed no danger to a long ball into the box but Argyle’s Dearing and centre back Chris Wills collided with each other, leaving Tom Sercombe with the simple task of tapping into an empty net from ten yards out to give the scoreline a slightly flattering look. Among the Argyle players to catch the eye were full backs Ben Bickle and Chris Hollands and captain Dale Chadwick.

A special well done to referee Adam Scrivens who had an excellent game not putting a foot wrong all afternoon.