NEWTON Abbot Spurs’ visit to Sidmouth Town on Saturday, April 12 could be a considered a make-or-break one given the lay of the land in the Walter C Parson SW Peninsula League.
Sidmouth lead the way and boast a six-point advantage over second-placed Spurs but a win for Marc Revell’s men would put the cat amongst the pigeons and set up a grandstand finish, with two games remaining apiece after this one.
The reverse fixture went the way of Spurs thanks to goals from Tom Lobb and Callum Noyce so they will be keen for a repeat.
Elsewhere in the Peninsula League, sixth-placed Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police head to fifth-placed Elburton Villa with their own ambitions of closing the gap between a team above them. Stoke’s last two results have been 3-2 defeats to teams in and around them so they’ll be looking to prevent that from becoming a trend.
Bovey Tracey AFC welcome rock-bottom Axminster Town to Mill Marsh Park for their first outing since announcing Ben Gerring as the permanent successor to Matt Hayden. Also, Teignmouth AFC take on Torridgeside AFC and Okehampton Argyle have no weekend game before visiting Axminster in mid-week.
In the Western League, Ivybridge Town were unable to do their Devon rivals Buckland Athletic a favour when they travelled to Nailsea & Tickenham last weekend.
An even more difficult away game awaits the Greens next with league leaders Portishead Town hosting them. Over to Buckland and a Jared Lewington goal made the difference for them against Shepton Mallet in an invaluable victory.
Now Brixham AFC await, a side who have already guaranteed their place in the playoffs but could still have a significant impact on the Bucks’ top-five hopes.
Meanwhile, Tavistock AFC’s significant up-turn in form continued thanks to a late strike from Liam Prynn away at Westbury United, landing them another point in their survival bid.
The Lambs are six points clear of the drop with four games left to play and on Saturday, they will welcome fifth-placed Bemerton Heath Harlequins to Langsford Park, a team for who the game means a lot as well.
In the South Devon Football League, a first cup final is upon us with East Allington United 2nds and Liverton United 2nds set to go to battle tomorrow night at The Rec, the home of Newton Abbot Spurs. With a 19:00 kick-off, the duo will cross paths with the reward for the victor being the Fred Hewings Cup.
There is plenty of league action too with Premier Division leaders Ilsington Villa heading to fifth-placed Kingsteignton Athletic, plus second-placed Newton 66 and third-placed Newton Spurs 2nds taking on Paignton Saints and Beesands Rovers respectively.
The top two in Division One have matches against Mid-Devon based opponents, Plymouth True Blues hosting Bovey Tracey 2nds and The Windmill meeting Buckland Athletic 2nds at Homers Heath.
Other fixtures of note in the SDFL include Harbertonford (8th) vs Mount Gould (2nd) in Division Two, Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police 2nds (4th) vs South Brent (10th) in Division Three and Chudleigh Athletic 2nds (4th) vs Templer Way (2nd) in Division Four.
Finally, to the Devon Football League, where we witnessed some much-needed intrigue at the foot of the table last weekend.
Ipplepen Athletic won at North Molton Sports Club and Bere Alston United battled for a point with the bottom three shifting positions as a result. Next up, the ‘Pens head to ninth-placed Elmore, North Molton visit 13th-placed Plymstock United and Bere Alston host fifth-placed Appledore.
For Dartmouth AFC, a trip to third-placed Plymouth Marjon awaits with the chance to close the gap on them with a win.