Exmouth Town’s South West Peninsula Premier Division ‘Match of the Day’ with St Austell, fully lived up to expectations as two totally committed sides fought out a 1-1 draw, writes John Dibsdall.

The game was also covered by BBC Radio Devon which helped to add to the occasion. Unfortunately for ,Town the two points dropped has seen them fall further behind Tavistock in the table, although they remain seven points clear of St Austell in fourth.

As expected, the early exchanges were even, with both sides enjoying their share of possession, but neither goalkeeper was unduly troubled.

St Austell began to impose themselves more on the match, but Town were content to soak up the pressure and always looked dangerous when they attacked.

Good close control from Aarron Denny saw him advance into the penalty area and when he was tripped from behind, the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty and Karl Rickard emphatically scored from the spot on 35 minutes.

Town were to rue missing two clear cut chances to increase their lead in the opening 12 minutes of the second half.

First, Nathan Cooper forced himself into a good position, but instead of shooting, passed to Denny whose effort was well held by the visiting glovesman and then Callum Shipton made a terrific run to receive a pass, but with just the ‘keeper to beat, fired over the crossbar.

St Austell were continuing to play their brand of possession football, but apart from one free-kick that was deflected narrowly wide of the post, didn’t threaten the goal and Denny was relieved to be flagged offside when he hit the post with the goal gaping!

As the game approached the 90 minute mark the visitors continued to press forward, but Town’s defence superbly marshalled by skipper Jamie Dirrane and ably supported by his central defence partner Dave Rowe seemed equal to the task until Ollie Brookenshire burst forward and his shot from 20 yards was too strong for Robbie Powell to hold and Liam Eddy reacted quickest to force home the loose ball and add to the 20 goals he has already scored this season.

Another 200 plus crowd inside the Southern Road ground had been treated to excellent entertainment and it was a game fitting to honour the memory of past chairman Rod Webber for whom there had been a minute’s silence before kick-off when his wife Heather and granddaughter Charlotte were in attendance.

Next up for Town is another home game with Launceston the visitors on Saturday (January 26) for a 2.15pm kick-off.