LYME REGIS 9 TEDBURN ST MARY 1

LYME Regis won by an eight-goal margin for the second successive game as they closed the gap on Exmouth Town Reserves at the top of Devon & Exeter League Division Three.

After walloping Clyst Valley Reserves 8-0, the Seasiders thumped lowly Tedburn St Mary 9-1 last Saturday, with Joe Bond adding a hat-trick to the five goals he scored the previous weekend.

Mark Bailey (2), Ben Whittington, Sam Jones, Declan Ellis and Julien Simier also netted at Davey Fort, while Lyme’s stand-in keeper Lee Cleal was unlucky to concede a freak consolation.

And with leaders Exmouth being held to a 3-3 draw by Thorverton Reserves, Tim Edwards’ men, who go to Pinhoe this Saturday (2.15pm), are now only three points behind in the league standings with a game in hand.

“Exmouth had games in hand at one point and were looking like they could go away from us,” said Edwards. “I think we can catch them now.

“They’ve had a couple of draws and we are in a good position with a better goal difference than them.

“We’ll just try to keep on winning and see where we end up.”

Meanwhile, Lyme Reserves put up a good fight against Perry Street Premier Division frontrunners Perry Street last time out before going down to a 2-1 defeat.

Lyme are home to Shepton Beauchamp on Saturday (2pm), while Beaminster, beaten 4-2 by West & Middle Chinnock at the weekend, do not have a fixture.

In Division One, Lyme Bantams, without a match in the latest round of games, visit Forton Rangers (2pm) in two days’ time.