Bill Treeby Cup
Dittisham United 3,
On Saturday the Plums entertained fellow promotion contenders Salcombe Town in the opening round of the division five league cup.
The Plums were taking part in only their third competive match in eight weeks and went into this game with a severely depleted side.
Ditts were without key players Copeman, Kirby, Hewitt, Nettleton, and Morrallee, meaning a place on the bench for manager Paul Rowdon.
From the kick-off Ditts showed all the early promise, from front to back they harassed and put Salcombe under continuous pressure.
Ditts could and should have taken the lead in the early exchanges through close efforts from Fisher, Bruckner, Rowden, and Martyn.
Despite Ditts' constant pressure, it was Salcombe that broke the deadlock with a goal completely against the run of play after a Town defender was fouled just inside the Dittisham half.
The resulting free-kick was pumped deep into the Ditts box, and a defensive mix-up allowed the Town forward to nip in and head past 'keeper Lee Darch.
The goal changed the complexion of the game and Salcombe started to assert themselves in an exciting first-half spectacle.
10 minutes before half-time Salcombe further extended their lead when a long clearance, after a Ditts attack broke down, was latched on to by the speedy Salcombe forward, who found himself one-on-one with 'keeper Darch and made no mistake in finshing low into the bottom corner.
After a rollocking at half-time, and a slight tweak in formation, Ditts came out with a completely different mentality, and ten minutes in halved the deficit through the ever-impressive midfield general Rowden.
Rowden ran from the inside of his own half and struck the first and best effort of his second half hat-trick that won the tie for Ditts.
Rowden drove into the heart of the Salcombe defence, who backed off and backed off until he smashed his 25-yard effort into the top left corner.
The goal gave the Plums a lifeline and the upper hand as they started to launch wave after wave of attack on the Salcombe goal.
Eventually Salcombe were unable to repel Ditts and the Tommy Rowden show continued 10 minutes after his first goal.
He yet again broke away from the defence and hit another rocket of a shot from 20 yards that flew past the helpless Salcombe Town goalkeeper.
Despite the feisty and niggly nature of the match, both teams attempted to get the ball down and knock it around, making for an exciting game.
With 10 minutes to go Rowden completed his hat-trick when he yet again found himself on the edge of the Salcombe box and with his confidence sky high, hit a third unstoppable effort that won the tie and sent Dittisham through to the next round of the cup.