LYME REGIS 6

OTTERY ST MARY RES 1

LYME Regis recorded their biggest margin of victory for 23 months, thrashing Ottery St Mary Reserves 6-1 at Davey Fort.

Julien Simier’s side ended up three goals shy of the 9-0 scoreline they produced against Dawlish in October 2020, when play briefly resumed before the second national lockdown.

Even more impressively, the result came after a two-week lay-off.

Among the scorers against the Otters was the familiar sight of Fred Parsons, who bagged a brace, while Cameron Fowler also claimed two, including a memorable team goal.

READ MORE: Lyme Regis 5-0 Kentisbeare - match report

Brad Rowe and Gary Knight completed the rout after an eighth-minute opener for Ottery’s Paul Barnes.

In the end, Lyme recovered superbly after a slow start caused by a 4.30pm kick-off in the double-header with their reserve side.

Speaking to the Bridport & Lyme Regis News, French coach Simier said: “Sometimes when you wait that long you’re a little sleepy, you find it hard to get going.

“We struggled for 15 minutes. We were very sloppy, our control wasn’t there, we didn’t challenge anything and they managed to score from a misunderstanding between our defence and goalkeeper.

“But that did wake us up and from there it was probably the best team performance I’ve ever seen from them since I took over.

“It was absolutely phenomenal on and off the ball. The intensity, communication, everything was there.

“It was superb, we played some really good football, either from the back, in the middle or if we managed to win the ball with our high press.

“I’m always proud of them but I was really impressed by the togetherness we had.”

Lyme victory lifted them into sixth in the Devon & Exeter League Premier Division table.

However, they will have to wait an extra week to resume their league campaign after Cranborne pulled out of their Dorset Senior Trophy first round clash this weekend.

Simier’s men return to action at home to University of Exeter Seconds on Saturday, October 8 (3pm).

Lyme: Higgs, Fellingham, Beer, G Knight, A Rowe (R Sargent) , Turner, Garrett (Lewis), Parsons, Fowler, Bailey, B Rowe.