A depleted Honiton Town 2nds fought through an injury crisis to earn a dramatic 3-2 win over the University of Exeter 6ths in the Devn & Exeter League.

Such was the extent of availability issues, manager Dave Haggerty had to dust off the boots for a rare outing, and the Hippos coped admirably in the opening exchanges, deservedly taking the lead through Taylor Murphy’s finish on the turn on 30 minutes.

After the break, a super save from Russ Bracey preserved the lead and Honiton doubled their advantage with a second from Murphy. The students, however, responded in emphatic fashion, bringing the scores level at 2-2.

The game had one final twist and the Hippos took all three points with a hat-trick goal from Murphy.

Debutant Zach Williams delivered an excellent showing to help Honiton U18s to a impressive 3-0 victory at Exmouth Town, with Alex Haggerty scoring twice and Charlie Carstairs also on target for the Hippos.

Back to the Devon & Exeter League, and Beer Albion 2nds returned to action after the Christmas break with a 0-0 draw at home to Feniton 2nds, writes Dan Jeeves.

The Fishermen dominated possession throughout the game but were unable to convert their superiority into goals. Striker James Melville had a couple of early chances after good work in midfield but the first was well saved by the Fenny ‘keeper and the second whistled over the crossbar. Also, Chris Long went close with a spectacular 25-yarder but generally Beer lacked a cutting edge on the day.

In the last moments of the half, Beer nearly found themselves a goal down but a brilliant double save by Leo Gribble kept the score level. 

The second half was much the same with Beer dominating possession but still lacking quality in the final third. Feniton rarely threatened the Beer defence with Spencer Hill, Kieron Love, Ashley Driver and Sammie Walker solid at the back.

Simon Smith had a great opportunity late on to seal the win for Beer but he hit the post, which summed up Beer’s day.

There were a couple of notable performances from the bench from winger  Harry Lawrence and 16-year old Ben Hemmens doing well on his Beer Albion debut.