Match Report
Exmouth Town v Willand Rovers
On a cold November night, a Devon Derby was on its third attempt as Rovers made the journey to East Devon to take on Exmouth Town and you know what they say about a third time, the game was lucky.
In the first half, both sides had glimmers of chances and Rovers had the majority of the possession. Within the first two minutes, Fin Rooke had already tried his luck at goal but was just being stopped in his tracks.
On a night of low temperatures, the stakes were high and this continued throughout the first half with Fin Rooke hacking away at goal to break the deadlock and with the hosts looking to go top of the table the pressure was on.
On 21 minutes, Willand were awarded a penalty with Rooke ready to rifle it in, on this occasion though it just sneaked over the bar for the youngster and the score remained level.
Jack Kennell stepped up in the 30th minute when it looked like the hosts had found the opener with it being inches away from going over the line, the former Torquay academy lad scooped it away and saved George Burton’s bacon.
However, through trial and error, it would be Rovers to take the lead with a scramble in the box to try and put it away, allowing Phil Mendonca to find a weak spot of Phillips and slot in to take the lead.
Town would be angling for their equaliser before time but nothing could be found and it was Willand going into the break the better side in the first 45.
The Second half got underway and if there was to be anything, it would have to be soon for Exmouth as they pushed their way through to get their shots away with the Rovers backline keeping their guard up with every attempt they made.
However, in the 67th minute, this would all change as George Burton was pipped from distance by Joe Belston who was on the right-hand side by the line where he fired in and found the important equaliser to keep the hosts spirits up.
Shortly after we would have a moment of Deja Vu with another penalty awarded and this time it was entrusted with River Allen. A little bit like the first, down the middle but a few yards above where it needed to be.
David Steele’s men knew it was crucial to end the night on a high by holding promotion pushers Exmouth to a point and continued to keep them out as in the 81st they were flagged offside when they thought it was 2-1.
Chance after chance for Town and it was not clicking which is when the board went up for 5 minutes, a dread at first but a blessing by the full-time whistle.
Luck was on our side and in one of the more abnormal and unexpected moments of the season we found a winner in the 95th minute against all odds with Fin Rooke firing in at first it looked like it had been cleared off the line and it was taken to the linesmen to decide on the fate and goal given and the whistle shortly went and all three returned to Silver Street.
Rovers’ next test in the Southern League depending on the weather will be a visit from Westbury United who find themselves currently near the relegation zone but will be looking to try and cause an upset this weekend.
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