BOVEY TRACEY 6

AXMINSTER TOWN 2

AXMINSTER Town slipped to a tough 6-2 defeat against a Bovey Tracey side that cemented the hosts’ top two league position in the East Division of the Southwest Peninsula League.

Bovey continued their recent run of good form and were two goals up inside the first 20 minutes when Josh Moore scored from close range followed swiftly by a terrific strike from Owen Stockton.

The Tigers were woefully poor, failing to do the basics well and this gave the home side all the encouragement they needed to effectively end the contest in the 38th minute when Ollie Aplin finished off a neat passing move.

The Axminster management team rang the changes at half-time with Nathan Antat, Charley Skilton and latterly Darren Hutchings entering the contest.

The Tigers were marginally better but conceded in the 60th minute when Bovey’s top marksman Sean Finch calmly added a fourth.

It came after he beat the offside trap and then expertly slotted past the onrushing Ashley Smith in the Tigers’ goal.

Five minutes later, Finch added his second of the afternoon from a 25-yard free-kick that deceived Smith.

For the remaining 25 minutes Axminster played some good football but it was a case of too little too late.

Antat finished with aplomb for the Tigers and this was followed up shortly afterwards when the league’s second-best scorer Pinder smashed home a volley from 10 yards out after good work from Antat.

Any slight chance of a comeback was put to bed when Marnie Skett scored Bovey’s sixth in the 87th minute, to send Axminster home with some serious questions to be answered.

Axminster’s joint manager Josh Stunell, said: “We badly let ourselves down, the travelling faithful rightly deserve better than the abysmal display.

“To wear an Axminster Town shirt, the minimum requirement is to work hard – which was sadly lacking.”

Axminster remain in fifth.