Walter C Parson Cup semi-final

On a wet night on the neutral ground of Newton Abbot Spurs, Axminster and Okehampton fought out a marathon cup semi-final, writes Charlie Bond.  

Okehampton had to rearrange their formation as influential midfielder Luke Reynolds has a ligament injury which will keep him out for the rest of the season and centre-half Myles James is cup-tied.  In came Luke’s twin brother Morgan, normally a striker, to play in midfield and centre-half Harvey Newman who is only available for cup games.

Axminster were the better team in the first half and Argyle made the mistake of resorting to a long-ball game which they do not play well.  

Both defences were on top and there were few chances at either end although Axminster looked the more likely to score.

The second half saw the pattern continue and seven minutes after the interval, Axminster took the lead when Richard Hebditch headed home a long cross from the left. This seemed to wake Okehampton up and they then played 35 minutes of their best football, playing the ball through midfield to the forwards in excellent short passing movements and keeping the ball on the ground.  Despite going close on several occasions and some mazy runs from Luke Alden, it looked as if the equaliser would elude them.  

But with only four minutes remaining, a great move ended with Luke Mortimore surging forward and cutting into the box from the right to unleash a fierce shot which went into the net off an Axminster defender.

Extra time was a grinding test of fitness for both sides and Argyle were glad to have the fresh legs of Ollie Snow and Mitch Cisneros to call on with both slotting in well.  There was no further scoring so the match moved into a penalty shoot-out. 

Okehampton took four perfect penalties with Luke Alden, Ollie Snow, Morgan Reynolds and Luke Mortimore giving the ‘keeper no chance.  

Axminster, however, came up against Okey ‘keeper Aaron Dearing in tremendous form; producing a brilliant save from their first effort, saving the second effort but frustratingly seeing the ball slip from his hands and over the line, and then making another brilliant save from their third effort, which meant once the Okes had scored their fourth penalty, there was no way back for Axminster.

Man of the match for Okehampton was quite naturally awarded to Dearing, but also deserving a mention was young right back Sami Gillett who hardly put a foot wrong all night.

The final will be against the winners of the other semi-final between Newton Abbot Spurs and Liskeard Athletic and will be played on Saturday, May 13 at Launceston FC’s ground with a 2pm kick-off.

SWPL Premier East

Argyle showed real attacking flair in this match against lowly Torrington, but it took ‘til the second half for them to assert their dominance over a stubborn side who also put together some good moves, writes Charlie Bond.

It should be said that this was a very clean game and a credit to football and Torrington should be congratulated on their sporting approach which saw none of the constant appealing to try to influence the referee that many clubs use.

Okehampton did not start well on a slippery pitch and despite a lot of possession, the final ball often went astray. However, on 25 minutes, a lovely forward move saw the ball played into Luke Alden who played it back to Alex Gray for him to fire home into the corner of the net from 20 yards. In view of some of their performances of late, the feeling was that Argyle needed to increase their lead before halftime but although they began to have the lion’s share of the play, they were unable to find the back of the net again. So at half-time, the game was still finely balanced.

However the second half saw Okehampton begin to convert their chances in the way they were earlier in the season. Five minutes after the interval, Luke Alden crossed a corner from the right, which was brilliantly volleyed home from the edge of the box by Luke Mortimore for a 2-0 lead.

Five minutes later, following good link-up play by Mitch Cisneros and Luke Alden in the middle of the pitch, Alden ran on to unleash a tremendous shot from 30 yards to make it 3-0. Okehampton made the game completely safe three minutes after this when Luke Alden picked up the ball in midfield and played a lovely through ball wide to Luke Mortimore who scored with a great finish from the edge of the box.

Argyle were well on top now and on 85 minutes, Luke Mortimore linked up well with Dom Harnell who was brought down in the box and up stepped Mortimore to fire home the penalty. With two minutes remaining, Mortimore cut inside his defender and unleashed a shot which the keeper did well to parry but Jake Rowe was on hand to fire home the loose ball.

This was a good all round team performance, but the man of the match award was given to Luke Mortimore for a fine hat-trick.

Next Saturday, Okehampton are home to Bridport with a 3pm kick-off and the following Monday, they are away to Teignmouth with a 2pm start.