Devon St Luke's Bowl First Round

Crediton United 3 - Exeter City FC U21's 2

THIS was a fantastic match with the most dramatic finish one could wish for.

A simply enthralling game of football played between two enterprising teams, both intent on showing their passing skills and commitment to the cause.

In the end it was due to a wonderful fight back from the home side who proved the victors in this positive advert for local football.

It was the biggest crowd for many a year who saw this game and Crediton took to the field, making a couple of changes from the side which went to Falmouth at the weekend.

Exeter proved the stronger in the opening exchanges but it took until half way through the first period to open the scoring.

A corner was swung into the box and smartly finished off by an unmarked player. 1-0.

Early in the second half it was two as a fine run and shot from just outside the area was fumbled into the goal by unfortunate home goalie Jack Arthur who lay motionless on the ground for some time no doubt considering his position.

This was a shame as Crediton were gaining in strength and it now looked like there was no way back for the home side. But they had other ideas.

A switch was made as the imperious Adam Bilcock came on for Harry Warren and Nelson Iseguan was switched to the right hand side and displayed a more attacking role.

This proved to be a master stroke and soon it was Nelson who pulled one back, chasing down a long punt forward, and he cleverly shot home from the edge of the area. 1-2.

Now it was Crediton in the ascendancy and inevitably it was Harvey Dorothy who scored.

There is no stopping Harvey at the moment and he is becoming a simply irresistible force.

The reaction of the crowd and the players was ecstatic as Crediton had levelled the game at 2-2.

Exeter were beginning to wilt and quite a few of them ended up in the referee's notebook.

There was an announcement over the PA that if the game stayed level at full-time we would be going straight to penalties but still the referee played on.

In the 95th minute the unthinkable happened as Harvey unleashed a magnificent shot into the corner which left the Exeter keeper helpless as the ball hit the back of the net.

The cheers which erupted and the reaction of the players was that of pure joy.

Almost immediately the ref signalled the end of the game and Crediton had won the most unlikely of victories.

To be successful against this quality is a massive achievement and all the players deserve a pat on the back as do the management team of Ben and Jack.

A special mention must go to Kevin Pike who was an absolute colossus in the heart of the defence (and all this at the tender age of 83!). 

Crediton team: Arthur, Whitfield, Knight, Lee, Johnson, Pike, White, Dorothy, Warren, Iseguan and Stapleton. Sub: Bilcock.

Man of the match: Kevin Pike.

Paul Whittall