Exmouth Town are back in action on Wednesday night when they play their first home game of the new Toolstation Western League Premier Division campaign against Tavistock (7.30pm).

Town suffered their first home defeat in a competitive match since Boxing Day 2018 when beaten 2-0 by Southern League outfit Melksham Town last Saturday.

Assistant manager Andy Rawlings summed up the mood in the Southern Road camp after the FA Cup defeat saying: “If asked to use the two words that would most define the result it’d have to be ‘disappointed’ and ‘frustrated’.”

He continued: “We were left reflecting that they [Melksham] not been better than us and, as such, it was an opportunity missed.

“That said, we cannot fault the application or effort from our team and anybody who saw the game will know just why we were left so frustrated.

“I have to be careful with regard to what I say as I don’t want to get the club – or myself – into hot water – but some of the decisions made by those in charge of the game really were ‘strange’!”

One decision that particularly incensed the home technical area was the award of the game’s opening goal when the player netting looked clearly off-side.

The Town number two said: “It was so far off that even the Melksham bench were amused by it. No, it has to be set aside now as we need to move on quickly and not dwell on it and that’s what we shall do and we have a cracker of a game to get back to with the visit of Tavistock.”

With regard to the teams first home defeat since Boxing Day 2018, Rawlings said: “Look, that was a wonderful record, but it was one that kept coming back at us and now it’s gone it feels like we have lost the monkey off our backs and can now focus on starting another tidy home run.”

On a more specific subject, that of player recruitment, Rawlings said: “We are looking to bring in an experienced midfielder. If anything, that’s the one thing we have been missing and it’s not hard to see why given that we have lost most of last year’s midfield to injuon Wednesday night against Tavistock, there’s FA Vase action at Southern Road on Saturday (September 12) with Cornish outfit Mousehole the opposition for Town (3pm).