Budleigh Salterton suffered their third defeat from their five opening games as they lost 2-1 at home to St Martins in the Devon Football League North and East division.

It was a repetition of games earlier in the season as the Robins were made to rue missed chances. They had no problem creating them but some extra touches in the box meant they were often blocked or closed down without troubling the keeper.

At the 15-minute mark, Budleigh had the first chance to open the scoring when Simon Withers won a header which fell for Jake Chudley however he could not convert the chance.

They were punished three minutes later when St Martins took the lead. The goal came from a corner as the ball was knocked down in the six-yard box before Scott Partington converted home from close range.

With half an hour gone, the Robins had another chance to bring the scores level. This time, Jamie Crossman lived up to his name by whipping in a delivery only to see Ryan Daffin head wide.

Four minutes into the second half, Budleigh had a free kick on the left-hand side which was floated in by Crossman in but a touch at the near post went just wide.

Similar to the opening goal, Budleigh were again punished shortly after spurning a chance themselves. From a counter attack down the left-hand side, a cross fell kindly to Kevin Pike to make it 2-0 to St Martins.

Budleigh finally managed to hit back midway through the second half when substitute Sam Hollis, who had only been on the field for a short while, was picked out from a Jacob Tinsley cross into the box from the right-hand side.

The substitute managed to tuck the bowl home to cut the deficit in half.

Unfortunately for the Robins, time was against them and the away side deployed some time-wasting techniques to see out the game.

The match ended 2-1 to the visitors meaning Budleigh have lost three of their opening five so far this campaign.

Interestingly, four of their five home games this season have been at home and their solitary win came on the opening day with a 4-1 victory over Chudleigh Athletic.

The Robins are on the road this Saturday (September 26) as they head to Exmouth Town Seconds. Exmouth are one of the form teams in the division having won two, drawn one and lost one of their opening four.