Elburton Villa 3 Ilminster Town 1

Despite the defeat against the League leaders there was encouraging signs from the Town as it was their best performance of the season, playing football out from the back and through the thirds.
The midfield three of Jack Steer, Marky Jones and Caleb Pack dominated the centre of the park and were all outstanding.

From Ilminster being the better side, the match which was all square at 1-1 changed when Elburton brought on their substitutes just after the hour mark.
The home side began to create chances and got lucky when a mishit shot from James Hamson crept over the line to make it 2-1, last seasons top goal scorer in the SWPL Levi Landricombe added a late third goal to put a slightly unfair addition to the scoreline.
The hosts took the lead through Blake Colton with a well stuck shot from 25 yards out, it was soon 1-1 when a free kick was won and ED Butcher scored direct just outside the penalty box.

The difference between the sides was Elburton’s substitutions and Ilminster visibly tiring. Ilminster were unable to respond to the changes, with late withdrawals through illness, injury and work commitments leaving them without their usual strong bench.

Shay Allen looked back to his best with a couple of good saves and good distribution throughout, the defence was solid and could not be faulted on the goals conceded with JJ Evans started to look at home at this level with a man of the match performance at left back where he looked comfortable on the ball.

This completes a difficult week for the team with three defeats in a row that has seen the exit from the FA Vase and Somerset Premier Cup as well as losing against the League leaders, the encouraging sign though is the quality of football played.