The empty Bill Rees stand at Exmouth Town football club at the weekend. Photo by Terry Ife ref exsp 6041-52-12TI

Exmouth Town boss Richard Pears could not hide his frustration at his side’s inactivity over the festive period.

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

The Southern Road team, unbeaten in the SWP League Eastern Division this season, last played on December 15th, winning 3-2 at Newton Abbot Spurs.

That’s Towns only league game since a 4-0 home win over Axminster Town on Saturday, November 10.

One league outing in seven weeks leaves the Town boss naturally beginning to worry about the possibility of a fixture build-up coming between his team and their bid for glory on three fronts.

Not that everybody else has been playing and Town not! Since November 10 there have been just 23 league games played in the Eastern Division across a possible seven Saturday match days!

Town have played two thirds of their league programme so far. That’s ten games out of thirty leaving twenty to be played in the second half of the season starting with Saturday’s trip to Totnes and Dartington.

The pair have already met this season in the Graddon Vending Devon Premier Cup when Town won 5-1.

Speaking first about the recent lay-off from action owing to the weather Pears says: “It has been incredibly frustrating. We had got ourselves into a really good place in terms of matches. There was a real tempo and intensity about us and I was hoping we could have taken that good form through the festive period when we had some big games. We have continued to train, but that is not the same as playing matches and after such a long lay-off there is always the worry about how the players will return. It is even more worrying when a lengthy hold-up in match action comes across the festive season when people are, quite understandably, indulging in eating and drinking more than usual. I am hopeful that the players will have been sensible, but I really do think that it could have a profound effect on the next month of our season. I know all the clubs are in the same boat, but I am very keen for us to be as professional as we can in our approach and that means the players being aware of the need to keep themselves in good shape when the match days are so few and far between.”

On the Totnes and Dartington game Pears says: “I am concerned about rustiness. We trained well this week and also got together for a really good chat about where we were in terms of our season and what we all felt we could realistically go on and achieve as a group from this sort of position in a football season. What was so very encouraging at that team meeting was that each one of the players showed me that they are buying into the plan we have. I did try to get across to them that football careers are not that long and the opportunity before the club right now may not be so accessible in the future. The players have worked very hard to get into this promising position. However the fact is that medals are not handed out on the basis of being in a promising position. Many teams have been where we are only to see it all fall away and that fate could yet befall us. That said the players’ know how serious I am about us achieving something this season. It is possible for us to go on and enjoy success in three competitions. However, it is equally possible that the whole thing could end in tears! Totnes and Dartington will feel that they owe us one after we turned them over in that November Graddon Vending Cup tie. They are a well-organised outfit who will work hard in all areas of the pitch. One factor may well be the lack of games – they have not played a league game since a December 1 5-1 home win over Crediton United. As long as the players do what I ask of them, and indeed perform to the levels that we all know they are capable of then I am sure we will be okay.”