Budleigh Salterton never recovered from a nightmare start at the University of Exeter, as the Robins went down to a painful 4-0 defeat in the Devon Football League.

Budleigh were behind inside 20 seconds, as the students marched through the visiting defence for an easy opener, and that lead was doubled on four minutes, when the Robins failed to deal with another quick break and were punished in ruthless fashion.

After such a disastrous start, Budleigh did well to regroup for the next half-hour but then suffered a killer blow when possession was conceded in a dangerous area and the University scored with an angled finish from the edge of the box.

The students rounded off their scoring five minutes before the break, pouncing on yet more hesitant defending.

Budleigh shuffled things around at the break and looked a lot better as a defensive unit, but their only clear-cut chance at the other end was squandered when a fine run from Oscar Walsh was saved by the legs of the Uni goalkeeper. A day to forget for Budleigh, who have no game this weekend.

The mood of the club was lifted considerably by a superb 7-1 victory for Budleigh 2nds at home to Exeter United in Division 4 of the Devon & Exeter League.

This was a second win over the Exeter side in as many weeks and the margin could have been even greater. Ryan Mitchell opened the scoring on just five minutes and completed his brace midway through the first half.

Finn Doyle-Stott extended the lead before half-time and the Robins banged in four more goals in the opening 18 minutes of the second period. Will White fired in a superb hat-trick, with substitute Corey Miller also scoring, but credit to Exeter, who kept plugging away and notched a late consolation.

Budleigh Salterton Women’s first season in the South-West Regional Women’s League Western Division ended with a 5-0 defeat at Sticker.  

Together with Activate Ladies, Budleigh were promoted from the Devon Women’s Football League and while it has been a tough campaign, at least they stayed the full course.