LYME REGIS 1

WHIPTON & PINHOE 2

LYME Regis suffered their first defeat of the Macron Devon & Exeter League Premier Division season with a 2-1 loss to promoted side Whipton & Pinhoe at Davey Fort.

With six wins from six games, Lyme had made a perfect start to the new campaign, but this performance was not in keeping with the Seasiders’ early form.

Chances were hard to come by in the first half and the visitors duly took the lead when Dale Joy-Hacking headed home a long ball.

Lyme then went 2-0 down when the experienced Mark Bailey failed to clear his lines, allowing Callum Hoare to nip in and finish past keeper Will Meech.

An injury-time Ben Turner goal could not save Lyme, with manager Gerard Hitchcock unable to “fathom” the poor display.

He said: “It just didn’t happen, it’s really hard to put your finger on it. It’s just one those games, I couldn’t fathom it – there were five or six (players), that was too many off-game to cope with.

“That not taking too much away from the opposition, they battled hard and took their chances.”

Lyme host Upottery on Saturday (3pm) and Hitchcock expects a difficult clash.

He said: “They’re always a tough outfit, they’ve been in that Premier for quite a few years now.”

Lyme: Meech, Every, Rocket, Wellman, Land (Simier 75), Bailey, Turner, Parsons, Vine, Bond, Pollard-Jones (Holmes 65)