South West Peninsula League Division One East

Budleigh Salterton 3

Okehampton Argyle 3

THIS was a much-improved performance from Argyle against last season's division 1 East champions.

Adam Mortimer posed problems for the Budleigh defence all afternoon and he was backed by an impressive performance in midfield from Ed Squire and good solid work at the back by Mike Vernon and Tom Reilly.

The first half started off at a fierce pace and both sides made chances as the game flowed from end to end. A strong wind made it difficult for both defences and it seemed likely it would be a day for forwards to dominate.

Okehampton tested the Budleigh defence early on when a quick break allowed James Williams to unleash a fierce shot which the Budleigh keeper did well to push away.

After 20 minutes, Okehampton took the lead when another good attack saw the ball played to Matt Mortimer who shot home from the edge of the area. Ten minutes later, Argyle went two up as Adam Mortimer used his tremendous pace to race clear of the Budleigh defence wide on the right before cutting inside and unleashing an unstoppable shot from 20 yards.

But as half-time approached, Budleigh began to take the initiative and it was only poor finishing from their forwards that stopped them going in level at the break.

Budleigh continued where they left off as the second half started and five minutes in, Danny Minto's header put them back in the game. Okehampton did not cave in after this reverse, but started to put some fine moves together and on 66 minutes, some good work down the right by Steve Kinsey ended with a lovely through ball to Ed Squire, who fired home a well-placed shot from just inside the box.

The Argyle supporters were desperately hoping Okehampton could hold onto this two-goal lead, but Budleigh had other ideas and forced them back into their own half for the last 15 minutes.

A well-taken goal by Stuart Francis on 78 minutes brought Budleigh back into the game and moments later Dave Wilkes equalised from six yards.

The home side could so easily have snatched both points after a poor clearance from Argyle's keeper Dan Malcolm was lobbed straight back over his head and only a brilliant goal-line clearance from Tom Reilly kept Okehampton level. But a draw was probably the fairest result on a day in which both teams served up entertaining attacking football.

This Saturday: South West Peninsula League, Axminster Town away, 2.15pm.