Good evening and welcome to the first floodlit league game at Bolitho this season. Our excellent start to the season continued with a hard fought draw against Tavistock , a side like us who have ambitions of finishing the season amongst the leading group.

I was away on holiday but speaking to Kevin and the lads they felt we done just enough to take all 3 points on the amount of chances created but the important aspect was not to lose the match against a title rival at this stage of the campaign.

Leagues are not won or lost in August or September but good performances and results certainly lay the foundation to your season and is always an indicator of how the year will shape up.

We travelled to Bridgwater on Saturday in the FA Cup against a side who play their football at level 4 two steps above ourselves in the Southern League, a level that as a club we have aspirations of reaching in the future.

Bridgwater have struggled for results this season but we still had to be professional in our approach and respectful of our opponents and indeed for the first 15 minutes we were second best.

The game changed when their keeper let a Josh Grant effort squirm under his body and from that moment we dominated proceedings. Myself and Kevin were particularly pleased with the the second half performance where half time information relayed to the players was taken on board and we scored 4 great goals the pick being a 25 yard strike from Josh who went on to complete a hatrick.

In addition to the travelling supporters who again attended in great numbers giving the players fantastic vocal support we had 5 on the bench for us as players begin to return from holidays, injuries and suspensions.

This highlighted the depth and qualify of our current squad and the competition for places which is healthy for the club and poses selection headaches for myself and Kevin but what a great situation to have.

We cannot fault the players attitudes and application to each game this season and the spirit amongst them all is evident regardless of whether they are in the starting line up or not.

Onto this evenings match and warm welcome to our North Devon opponents Witheridge. Last season we defeated them remarkably by the same 8-1 score line on both occasions which judging by their overall seasons results and final league placing certainly what you would not expect.

It promises to be a tough test for us as Witheridge have already shown this season they are capable of competing with the stronger sides in the division and it’s imperative we target 6 points from the two league games this week to maintain contact with the leading pack as with no midweek game next week and the FA cup tie away to Cadbury Heath from the Western League next Saturday we wil soon be playing catch up with our opponents with regards to league games played.

Thank you again for your support both tonight and for those who will travel with us on Saturday to Camelford, make yourself heard and cheer the lads on. COYY.

Enjoy the game, Darren Stewart.