SDFL division three

Dartmouth AFC seconds 6

It was back to league action for Dartmouth, in this their seventh straight away fixture of the season.

They looked to maintain their recent winning run, as they faced a Teign Village side knowing that a high-scoring victory would see them leapfrog the hosts into fourth spot in the league table.

On a bumpy old pitch up on the moors, the visitors looked to pursue their usual quick passing game and straight from the off they pegged the villagers deep inside their own half for long periods.

Patience proved the key factor in this one and the opening goal arrived in the 18th minute, after a few decent chances had come and gone.

A free-kick from the right wing was delivered perfectly to the far post by James Lee, and met by a cracking header back across the keeper and into the far corner by Jack Berry.

The goal settled the visitors and they immediately went in search of more. The second arrived soon after following a bizarre passage of play.

A penalty was awarded to Dartmouth for handball inside the box and up stepped striker Nick Rushe to take the spot kick.

The ‘keeper made a great save to parry his shot but when the rebound fell to Darts midfielder Joe Kirby, he was up­ended by two defenders to give Rushe an instant chance to redeem himself.

This time the prolific marksman sent the ‘keeper the wrong way to give his side a 2-0 cushion.

In the 33rd minute the Darts eventually got a third goal to effectively kill the game off, and it came courtesy of a Teddy Armitage header.

The striker had been unlucky on a few occasions beforehand, but made no mistake when he followed up on a block by the ‘keeper to coolly guide the ball into the empty net from 12 yards out.

The second half was much the same as the first, with Dartmouth dominating possession and controlling the tempo as they looked to bolster the scoreline.

It was 4-0 five minutes in when another delightful corner from James Lee, who was outstanding all afternoon, picked out the run of his skipper Kev Causley, who thumped a free header past the helpless goalie and into the roof of the net.

The fifth goal arrived when Rushe swivelled brilliantly inside the box to lash home an excellent cross from Will Kenny.

For the next 20 minutes the visitors were frustrated by a mixture of some wonderful saves from the home ‘keeper, and some poor luck which saw them hit the woodwork three times.

Mark Sneap’s introduction saw him hit the post, while Rushe was denied a hat-trick twice as he hit both the crossbar and an upright.

Meanwhile Scott McRoy, Will Kenny and Richard Yeo were all foiled by excellent stops to keep the score below double figures.

The sixth goal did arrive late on when another Lee corner was met by a towering Causley header which looked to be going wide, until the intervention of goal poacher Sneap, who was on hand to flick the ball home for his first goal of the season.

In the closing mo­ments Teign Village were given an opportunity of a consolation goal when the referee awarded a penalty, despite Darts ‘keeper Simon Holmes clearly getting a touch on the ball as he closed the striker down inside the area. The spot-kick was duly dispatched to make the final score was 6-1.

The Dartmouth AFC man of the match was James Lee.

Third-placed Sal­combe are the next opponents for Dart­mouth as they travel once more, knowing a victory would see them overtake their opponents in the league table.

Kick off is at 2.30pm and all away support is very welcome.