Hippos travelled to a Western League side in the Devon Bowl. After dispatching Barnstaple Town in the previous round Honiton Town approached this game with the belief that they could progress into the next round.

Doble’s starting line up was without his captain as he was away on holiday, so placed himself in the centre of defence along side Martyn Hancock. Town were unlucky when Exmouth opened the scoring in the 16th minute when a clearance rebounded off a player putting the Exmouth player striker in a good position who finished well past Luke Ashford in the Hippos goal. Exmouth doubled their lead in the 20th minute when a bemused (along with most of the crowd) Doble saw himself in the book as the ref deemed that he had handled the ball in the box. Exmouth dispatched the resulting penalty to give them a 2-0 lead

Town were forced to make an early substitution in the 25th minute when an injury to Conor Flanagan saw him replaced by Tom Perryman. Exmouth nearly extended their lead , however the striker cleared the bar from less than two foot out.

Honiton were forced to make another substitution in the 40th minute when an Exmouth player fouled Joe Dixon, who received an eye injury, and the Exmouth player receiving only a yellow card.

With half time bearing down, Town pulled a goal back when Hancock rose at the back post, from a corner, to put the ball in the back of the net.

So The Hippos were 2-1 down at half time.

The away side tried to get back into the game, but their hopes were dashed when Exmouth added their third in the just before the hour.

Billie Knox replaced Owen McCreadie Taylor in the 75th minute and look sprightly on the right hand flank. However Town couldn’t get back into the game and Exmouth extended their lead from the penalty spot after Doble gave away another penalty in the 89th minute after a foul. The ref gave him his second yellow card, sending the gaffer back to the changing rooms. The Western League then added their 5th in the dying moments of the game.

While the score line doesn’t lie, there certainly wasn’t a huge gulf between the two sides and Town return to SW Peninsula League action on Saturday when they welcome Ivybridge to Mountbatten Park, with a 2.15 kick off.

Honiton Town FC

Match Preview

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Team Sponsors