NEWTON ABBOT SPURS 1 - CREDITON UNITED 1

THIS was a battling draw which Crediton richly deserved but really it is a game they could have easily won because after taking the lead in the first half it looked as though they would hang on for all three points.

Crediton were a vast improvement from the home game a couple of weeks ago which saw the same opponents succeed by 5-1 at Lords Meadow.

As I arrived at the ground there was nowhere to park as the home club have added an unmanned barrier to prevent supporters from getting in so that set me off on the wrong foot as I had to spend £3.90 in the local car park. Grrrr.

Anyway it was good to see chairman Rod Hawker and we chewed the fat for a bit before the teams arrived.

Young Zak Stephens was in goal and the last time he kept for Crediton we were soundly thrashed so hopefully young Zak would have a better day, and yes, he did.

Aidan Whitfield was back in defence and was fairly flawless alongside Kevin Pike who was absolutely superb with his shrewd tackling and darting runs.

The action soon began with Crediton in their fetching yellow and black stripes and an early shot from Harry Warren was pushed round the post by the Newton goalie.

Then on 24 minutes a shot from close in was brilliantly blocked by Sam Stapleton when a goal looked on the cards.

Then after half an hour Lukey White was sent through on the right hand side and his jinking run was ended with a crisp shot into the bottom left hand corner and Crediton were in the lead, 0-1 to the Kirton.

This was a little controversial because after a member of the home side collided with the referee the ball fell to Lukey who gratefully accepted his chance.

The second half was just as competitive as the first but just after the hour there was more controversy as the usually mild mannered Harry Warren and Spurs’s Finn Pearce were both sent from the field.

A Spurs player lay on the ground clutching his head after a challenge from Warren and the reaction of Pearce was unseemly to say the least.

Words were spoken but I couldn’t quite catch them.

Soon came substitutions including that of Aidan Whitfield and Crediton started to defend deeper as they strive to protect their lead.

With 10 minutes to go Spurs equalised as a brilliant first time effort from a Newton sub.

It was a deserved equaliser and bad luck on Zak Stephens who kept out virtually everything that was delivered.

Crediton have a goalie of real promise as Zak made plenty of good saves especially when the score was 0-1 for such a long time. Josh Radford came on for Crediton and made some energetic runs but the ball simply would not fall for him to get a shot on goal. In the end a draw was the right result and the lads from the Meadow returned with a point and now we look forward to the league cup semi final against Cullompton which take place at Honiton on Tuesday.

Man of the Match: Zak Stephens.

Paul Whittall