CREDITON UNITED 0 - TORRINGTON 1

A DISAPPOINTING result for the Crediton home side on Tuesday, August 8 as they were narrowly beaten by a Torrington side that have come on leaps and bounds from last year.

It really was men against boys as the men in green showed their teeth and, on the whole, dominated the physical side of the game.

The Crediton young lads held their own for the majority of this match and played a dutiful passing game well worthy of winning any match, but in truth never really looked like taking the game by the scruff.

Back came Aidan Whitfield wearing the captains armband and Kevin Pike which left Alfie Down on the bench which was a shame as he had such a good game last Saturday.

Also, it was good to see the return of Adam Bilcock who impressed with his composure when he did come on for the injured Dave Lee midway through the second half.

The attack seemed somewhat lightweight tonight as Lewis Wilson ploughed a lonely furrow and was dominated by the force of the defenders he faced and Luke White and Harvey Dorothy were unable to tee up many chances.

As early as the first minute however, Luke White had a grand shot tipped over by the goalkeeper but soon Torrington came back and were denied taking the lead only by a point blank save from Ethan Chalke.

Kieran Knight was booked but in truth could have been sent off, at least the Torrington locals thought so, being extremely vociferous in their unbiased way.

A goal was disallowed for offside shortly after and just before half-time a long ball gave the defence the proverbial slip, but Lewis Wilson was unable to take advantage.

The second period was dominated by Torrington quite a lot of the time.

Dre Johnson was booked and wave after wave of green shirts approached the Crediton goal, but it really began to look as though the game would remain scoreless.

Then in the 77th minute disaster struck as Alan Woodcock received the ball on the left-hand edge of the penalty area and he nutmegged Kevin Pike before turning and firing a shot past a helpless Ethan Chalke who was blameless throughout.

Although there were long range shots from both Harvey Dorothy and Luke White, Crediton failed to score and the 0-1 scoreline was just about a fair result.

With their mixture of muscle and experience Torrington looked like they could be a force to be reckoned with this season.

However, there is a lot of hope in those young Crediton legs and I am sure that Ben and Jack will have them geed up for an improved performance when Elburton are the visitors tomorrow, Saturday, August 12, during the afternoon.

Crediton team: Chalke, Whitfield, Knight, Lee, Johnson, Pike, White, Dorothy, Wilson, Lilley and Stapleton.

Subs: Bilcock, Corrick and Warren.

Man of the Match: Ethan Chalke.

Paul Whittall