Brixham v Honiton 4.3.23

FISHERMEN’S TALES

SATURDAY 4 MARCH 2023 3PM SW PENINSULA LEAGUE EAST sponsored by South Devon Media

WELCOME TO WALL PARK !

Brixham AFC, Wall Park Road, TQ5 9UE

Members of:

KITCHEN KIT SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE

TCS SOUTH DEVON LEAGUE

PIONEER YOUTH LEAGUE

MANAGEMENT TEAM

President: John Charles

Chairman: Phil Thomas 07725 056504 phil.thomas71@hotmail.com

Club

Fixture Secretary: Ian Whiscombe

Vice

nickit12@aol.com

Slayersdreams 2022 ©

Which page is Billy hiding on today?

HONOURS

S W PENINSULA LEAGUE EAST RUNNERS-UP 2022

S DEVON LEAGUE PREMIER RUNNERS-UP 2014, 2022

SDL GEORGE BELLI CUP RUNNERS-UP 2013, 2014

DEVON PREMIER CUP RUNNERS-UP 2014

DEVON COUNTY U 18’S LEAGUE SOUTH CHAMPIONS 2022

DEVON COUNTY U 18’S LEAGUE CUP RUNNERS-UP 2022

PIONEER U15’S CUP WINNERS 2018

PIONEER U12’S CUP RUNNERS-UP 2022

PIONEER U10’S CUP RUNNERS-UP 2022

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the businesses and individuals who sponsor our club, your support is greatly appreciated.

Some comments and views that may be contained in this publication may not necessarily be the views of the club. Matchday magazine point of contact fishprog@hotmail.com

‘

BRIXHAM BILLY’

WALL PARK WATCH

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to Wall Park. A particular welcome of course to our friends who have made the journey from Honiton, a safe journey home to you all.

Last Saturday’s victory had us reaching for the record books. We won 9-0 at Ottery last season, including a Tom Burt hat-trick, and the reserves also won 10-1 here against Barton Athletic (five goals that day for Alex Harding), but that was the only time since the club’s formation in 2012 that the first XI have scored nine at home in a League match. There was however an 11-0 win over Upottery here in a Premier Cup tie in 2017, having won 15-0 away at Plymouth Hope in the previous round. Not quite a record for any Brixham AFC side though, as the fourth team put seventeen past Moretonhampstead without reply in a South Devon League match in 2013, having already won away by 10-2 earlier that season. Another record, which will of course end sometime, is that the first team are currently on a run of six League matches without conceding a goal.

Someone with more comprehensive records than I possess will have to say when a player last scored four goals for the first XI in a League match, although Shane Pike achieved the feat for the third team in 2018 and Scott Dodgson did it in a cup tie in 2013.

Just a word about Elmore. They are a side of mostly young lads, not without talent but obviously raw. To their credit, they never let their heads drop and put the effort in from first to last, so well done to them. The more goals they concede, the more they’ll learn!

Next Saturday, 11th, the first team are away at Holsworthy, and the following week we are at Cullompton, both 3pm kick-offs. The League title is now in our hands and all travelling support will aid the cause. If you can’t get away, the Reserves have a rearranged home game against Ivybridge next week and entertain Waldon Athletic here the following week, both at 2.30pm. They will appreciate your support just as much! Enjoy the match, and let’s hope for a win for the Fishermen!

Back issues of ‘Fishermen’s Tales’ are available at £1.50 post free. If you want more than one we’ll do you a deal! Email your requirements to fishprog@hotmail.com or speak to Ian.

LOTTERY WINNERS !

Draw date 27 February at The Manor

Numbers 4 - 13 - 15 - 19 Jackpot not won

Consolation prizes:

£50 Gordon Smith (Manor) £20 Tom Dunlop (BAFC)

£10 Carol Leadbetter, Karen Ryder, Tom Hopper (DH)

Next Jackpot £10,000

Draw 6 March 6pm at Hookhills

GET YOUR TICKET FROM THE BAR TODAY AND WIN TEN GRAND FOR A POUND !!

THE GAFFER TAPE

After a run of games away from Wall Park it felt good to get back to home comforts last Saturday with our encounter versus Elmore.

Despite the League table looking favourable for us prior to the game it was important for the lads and us to not get or feel complacent. Fortunately for us, the quick start and usual diligence from the starting eleven blew Elmore away and the game was over as early as 25 minutes in.

Some good team goals, some encouraging set-piece goals, another clean sheet and the opportunity to get more much-needed minutes into the legs of some lads that haven’t featured a great deal recently.

On to today’s game and a warm welcome to Honiton. They will be buoyant from the late win last week versus a strong Bovey side, and with their exciting ground developments completed we expect - and quite rightly so - for them to be in an enthusiastic mood for today’s game.

It’s one game at a time still for us, some tricky matches and opponents coming up and with plenty of the other top six teams playing against each other, all teams will undoubtedly drop points in the coming weeks. We just need to make sure we keep plodding along, picking off the wins and avoiding complacency.

Enjoy the game.

Couchy & Ports

Honiton Town were members of the Devon and Exeter League during the 1980’s and 1990’s, until withdrawing in 1998. On rejoining the league, they stayed in the lower divisions until they won Division One in 2015. They won the Premier Division in 2017 and were promoted to the South West Peninsula League Division One East. At the end of 201819 the league was restructured, and Honiton successfully applied for promotion to the Premier Division East.

Ground: Mountbatten Park

Year formed: 1950

Managers: Dan Tavender and Leroy Venn

Chairman: Roger Doble

Secretary: Alan Mackay alanmackay2009@hotmail.com

Colours: Red and black Change: Blue and black

Nearest pub: The Holt, High Street 4 minutes

Nearest chippy: Chippee!, High Street 8 minutes

Last season:

4.9.21 Honiton 0 Brixham 1

Fisher, Brooke, Adderley, Dunlop, M Harford, Miller, Somers, Parkin, Robinson, Chisholm, Bowden

subs Wellington, Leech, Dyson. Scorer: Adderley.

6.4.22 Brixham 2 Honiton 0

Fisher, Robinson, Adderley, Dunlop, Gaze, M Harford, Somers, Parkin, Chisholm, Leech, Swann

‘TheHippos’ Our all-time League record

v Honiton:

Some of our other friends …

JT MOTORS, Lower Manor Road

HAMMER AND NAILS, Bolton Street

THE PANTRY, Summercourt Way

MARE AND FOAL SANCTUARY, Fore Street

BRIXHAM BARBER & SALON, Bolton Street

YES @ THE EDGE, Fore Street

SMARDONS, Bolton Street

DAVID’S, Bolton Street

BRIXHAM TYRES, New Road

BURTON HOTEL, Burton Street

CROWN & ANCHOR, The Quay

Car servicing and repairs

Ironmongery and garden requisites

General store

Charity shop

Gents hairdresser

Charity shop

Newsagents & general store

Fish and chip shop

Tyre replacement

Public house

Public house

STAR FISH !

Born Kingskerswell, 20 October 1998 (Libra)

Nickname Mdog/Horsey

Age 24 Height 5ft 10 Weight 11st

Occupation Pro Direct

Lives Kingskerswell

Marital status Single

Children None

Position on pitch Full back

Former clubs Buckland, Dartmouth, Stoke Gabriel

Best player played with Alex Fletcher

Best player played against Joe Willock

Favourite other team Liverpool

Favourite food Steak

Favourite holiday destination Butlins

Favourite TV show The Office US

Dogs or cats? Dogs

Night in or night out? In

Hobbies outside football Walking, cricket, flirting

Which person in the world would you most like to meet? Steven Gerrard

Photo: Stuart Richards

UP FOR THE CUP !

WALTER C PARSON LEAGUE CUP

Quarter Finals

Axminster 2 Crediton 1

Bovey Tracey 1 Liskeard 3

Elburton 2 Okehampton 2 (2-4 pens)

Newton Spurs 3 Teignmouth 2

Semi Finals

Liskeard v Newton Spurs (Mar 28 at Ivybridge)

Okehampton v Axminster (Mar 29 at Bovey Tracey)

ISUZU FA VASE

Holders: Newport Pagnell Town

Quarter Finals (Mar 11)

Congleton Town v Bury

Peacehaven & Telscombe v Corsham Town

Newport Pagnell Town v Atherstone

West Didsbury & Chorlton v Ascot Utd

BAYSIDE

Quarter Finals

Willand 4 Brixham 1

Ilfracombe 0 Tavistock 4

Teignmouth 0 Buckland 0 (7-6 pens) (at Buckland)

Tiverton 3 Exmouth 0 (at Exmouth)

HERALD CUP

Holders: Kingsteignton Athletic

Quarter Finals

Ivybridge Res v Paignton Saints Res (Mar 4)

Kingsteignton v Ilsington (Mar 11)

Stoke Gabriel Res v East Allington (Mar 14)

WBB v Newton 66 (Mar 11)

PIONEER U13s PLATE

Semi Finals (Mar 5)

Brixham v Newton Town

WBB United v WBB Yellow

PIONEER U11s CUP

Semi Finals (Mar 5)

Brixham v WBB Blue

Kingsteignton v Ocean City

Mar 4

Group A

Chudleigh v Newton 66

Elburton v Kingsteignton

Waldon v Buckfastleigh

Group B

WBB v E Allington

GRAPHICS ST LUKE’S BOWL

GEORGE BELLI CUP

SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE EAST

(correct to March 3)

BRIXHAMAFC SUPPORTERS CLUB

NEW BONUS BALLLOTTERY

Our brand new competition is about to go live!!

Here’s how it works.

The competition is limited to just 59 people, and there’s a prize every month. Hence, your chance of winning one of the twelve prizes each year is fractionally better than one in five.

Every month, the winning number – only 59 of them to choose from, remember – will win a prize of £200. And the December draw prize will be a whopping £1,000!

The winning number each month will be the bonus ball drawn in the National Lottery on the last Saturday of the month.

The cost to enter per number is just £10 a month, which over the year works out to just over a couple of quid a week. There are only the 59 numbers available so you’ll have to be quick!

Get a form from the bar, fill it in, give it back and you’re in! Simples. And good luck!!

(In the unlikely event that the winning number remains unsold for that month, half the prize will be rolled over to the following month, the other half will be given to the nearest number that has been sold)

BRIXHAM AFC ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

‘GOLDEN HIND’MATCHDAY PACKAGE £100

Complimentary match admission tickets x 4

Pre-match food provided

Choice of man-of-the-match together with post-match award presentation

Complimentary drinks from the bar (2 per ticket)

Pre-match advert on social media

Write-up in match programme

MATCH BALL PACKAGE £50

Complimentary match admission tickets x 2

Complimentary drinks from the bar (2 per ticket)

Pre-match advert on social media

Write-up in match programme

PITCHSIDEADVERTISING BOARD

£200 including supply of board (£100 per season renewal)

Match programme advert (quarter page horizontal) plus a season ticket included

PLAYER SPONSORSHIP

£100 per season (includes a season ticket)

£50 per half-season (includes a season ticket)

Mentions on social media and in match programme

MATCH PROGRAMMEADVERTISING

Various options depending on size of advert.

For more details contact Phil Thomas

phil.thomas71@hotmail.com

There’s an old wives’ tale at NLP Towers which continually succeeds in amusing and bemusing us in equal measure.

It’s a theory which has haunted us for as long as we can remember, it just won’t go away and it regularly returns to make fools out of anyone who has dared edit, report for or contribute towards our news pages over the years. It’s called The Curse of The NLP.

These days, ‘The Curse’ comes with an acceptance from us all in the office, but in recent weeks it’s returned to bite us on the backside more often than usual.

Take our edition of January 29 for example. On page 33 we ran an interview with Ramsgate manager Steve Lovell after he had led the Rams into title contention in Isthmian League South East. Lovell spoke at length about how much he was enjoying life at the Southwood Stadium and how there was so much more to come from the Kent side for the rest of the campaign. That weekend they were surprisingly beaten at Three Bridges which is ironic enough in itself, but two days later Lovell was unceremoniously sacked and later replaced by the defender he brought to the club, Jamie Coyle. Sorry Steve.

In that same edition, we also ran a piece on Altrincham following their recent upturn in form. In it, assistant manager Neil Sorvel told how the club’s new full-time model had contributed to a 10-match unbeaten run which had propelled the Robins into play-off contention. Granted, that unbeaten run ended with a narrow defeat at Chesterfield in the midweek prior to publication but Alty lost their next three games and slipped back down into the bottom half of the table. Sorry Robins.

Last month ‘The Curse’ struck again – and just when we least expected it.

In that same edition of January 29, Hereford boss Josh Gowling, a regular columnist at The NLP, explained about the highs and lows of football management after having watched the heart-warming video of Mark Hudson telling his children that he had lost his job at Cardiff City.

“Management is the best job in the world, but also it can feel the most lonely,” Gowling said. “We went through a period in November and December where we didn’t win. I’d just won manager of the month in October. I was miserable. I was in my office every day, away from my family, trying to find ways to fix it. You have to keep working to try and get it right – plus I put the manager of the month award away in my desk under a load of books! We’ve been winning again since I did that so maybe I will keep it out of sight.”

So, imagine our surprise a little over a week later when Hereford parted company with playing favourite Gowling after three straight defeats in National League North. Sorry Josh.

We just hope that Steve, Neil and Josh don’t have second thoughts when the name ‘Non-League Paper’ flashes up on their phone the next time we call for a chat.

But, in the meantime, be warned. If an article appears on your club or your star player and then subsequently leads to a Manager of the Month style voodoo affecting their form, then you know you’ve been struck by ‘The NLP Curse’.

By Jon Couch

THE BLUE ARMY ON TOUR !

AXMINSTER TOWN

Tiger Way EX13 5HN

56 miles, 75 minutes

BOVEY TRACEY

Mill Marsh Park TQ13 9FF

20 miles, 40 minutes

BRIDPORT

St Marys Field DT6 5LA

67 miles, 90 minutes

CREDITON UNITED

Lords Meadow EX17 1ER

37 miles, 50 minutes

CULLOMPTON RANGERS

Speeds Meadow EX15 1DW

42 miles, 55 minutes

DARTMOUTH

Longcross TQ6 9LW

7 miles, 35 minutes (via ferry)

ELBURTON VILLA

Haye Road PL9 8HS

30 miles, 50 minutes

ELMORE

Horsdon Park EX16 4DB

51 miles, 60 minutes

HOLSWORTHY

Upcott Field EX22 6HF

69 miles, 90 minutes

HONITON TOWN

Mountbatten Park EX14 1AW

45 miles, 55 minutes

IVYBRIDGE TOWN

Erme Valley PL21 9ES

23 miles, 40 minutes

NEWTON ABBOT SPURS

Recreation Ground TQ12 2AR

15 miles, 30 minutes

OKEHAMPTON ARGYLE

Simmons Park EX20 1GE

50 miles, 65 minutes

PLYMOUTH MARJON

The Campus PL6 8BH

36 miles, 55 minutes

SIDMOUTH TOWN

Manstone Lane EX10 9TF

41 miles, 60 minutes

TEIGNMOUTH

Coombe Lane TQ14 9EX

19 miles, 35 minutes

TORRIDGESIDE

Donnacroft EX38 7BU

66 miles, 90 minutes

TORRINGTON

Vicarage Field EX38 7AJ

67 miles, 90 minutes

THE STAND-BY CREW 2022-23

(All matches 2.30pm kick-off unless stated otherwise)

SOUTH DEVON LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

(correct to March 3)

PENINSULA LEAGUE UPDATE

Saturday 25 February

Brixham 9 Elmore 0

Bovey Tracey 1 Honiton 2

Bridport 2 Holsworthy 0

Cullompton 0 Sidmouth 3

Dartmouth 0 Crediton 2

Ivybridge 1 Teignmouth 1

Newton Spurs 1 Torrington 1

Okehampton 1 Axminster 1

Torridgeside 3 Elburton 1

Wednesday 1 March

Cullompton 0 Bridport 2

Honiton 0 Axminster 2

Saturday 4 March

Brixham v Honiton

Axminster v Holsworthy

Crediton v Plymouth Marjon

Dartmouth v Torridgeside

Elmore v Bovey Tracey

Newton Spurs v Elburton

Sidmouth v Ivybridge

Teignmouth v Cullompton

Torrington v Bridport

Tuesday 7 March

Bridport v Sidmouth

Elburton v Crediton

SMALL FRY UPDATE

March 5

U16s Home v Ivybridge (12.45)

U14s No match

U13s Home v Newton Town (11.00) Plate SF

U12s No match

U11s Home v WBB Blue (9.30) Cup SF

U8s Away v KM United (10.00)

Malborough Rec

Wednesday 8 March

Bovey Tracey v Newton Spurs

Torrington v Teignmouth

Saturday 11 March

Holsworthy v Brixham

Axminster v Plymouth Marjon

Bridport v Teignmouth

Crediton v Torrington

Cullompton v Dartmouth

Elburton v Elmore

Honiton v Bovey Tracey

Ivybridge v Sidmouth

Okehampton v Newton Spurs

Wednesday 15 March

Bovey Tracey v Torrington

Elmore v Teignmouth

Honiton v Cullompton

Ivybridge v Elburton

Saturday 18 March

Cullompton v Brixham

Bridport v Okehampton

Dartmouth v Bovey Tracey

Holsworthy v Elburton

Plymouth Marjon v Ivybridge

Teignmouth v Sidmouth

Torridgeside v Newton Spurs

Torrington v Axminster

BRIXHAM AFC DARTS TEAM

Next Friday, 10th March, the club darts team is away to the Bell, play to start at 8pm. All support welcome!

FANTASY FOOTBALL

Picture the scene: the heavenly blonde German teacher you've had a crush on since the start of term asks you to stay late.

As the rest of your classmates stream out the door, she approaches your desk, her elegant but surprisingly muscular legs striding towards you.

She leans over your books, eyes scanning across your hastily scrawled translation of Der Vorleser, and you catch a glimpse past the delicate pearl necklace and down her unbuttoned blouse. Your eyes lock on her luscious, forbidden lips when suddenly the moment is shattered. "Pep likes my link up play too", says a deep, monotone voice.

Startled, you look up to the broad, podgy grin of Erling Haaland.

Credit: The Upshot

FISHERMEN

HONITON TOWN