Axed.

The Season So Far:

On the face of it, with the home side lying in 6th and the visitors in 7th, this could well be a very close encounter. However, dig a little deeper and it’s not quite that straight forward as that with Plymouth Marjon having played 4 games more than Axminter. Marjon have won as many as they’ve lost, with Axminster only losing 1 of their 9 games so far. Knowing this it is tempting to put Axminster as favourites despite not having home advantage today.

The past 2 games involving Marjon have thrown up a 2-1 loss against Dartmouth, after an emphatic 6-1 home win over Torridgeside. Marjon’s only draw so far this season was with the aforementioned Dartmouth – a one-all tie at the Marjon Sports Centre. Most of the games featuring the university side have been high scoring affairs, with plenty of matches throwing up 6 goals apiece.

Axminster come into this off the back of a 2-2 draw with Bovey Tracey – a result that was probably more of a plus for Bovey Tracey. Prior to that, a confidence-boosting 7-0 away win over Elmore in the Devon St Lukes Challenge Cup was preceded by elimination from the FA Vase by league rivals Brixham. Despite this hiccup, the Tigers can be optimistic about the season, particularly after having started the campaign with 4 straight victories.

The Visit:

Representing one of the Universities in the city of Plymouth, Marjon’s football club play at the University’s Sports Complex which is a stone’s throw from Derriford Hospital. The all-weather pitch is fenced in with a couple of spectator areas. One on the nearside next to a handy café; the other opposite and within the fence, however this didn’t seem to be in use today. As a result, the 22 or so in attendance watched the action from a decent vantage point, albeit with the fencing slightly obscuring some of the pitch. Most of the onlookers seemed to be there to follow the travelling Tigers, and many seemed to have a family connection to one or other of the teams.

The match took a while to get going with neither team really creating anything much in the opening exchanges. The first action, however, was a bullet header from a corner to open the scoring for Axminster. Jamie Price attacking the ball unchallenged, giving the home keeper no chance. 7 minutes later and the Tigers doubled their lead; a wide free kick from Lewis Waldy was floated in from the right towards a cluster of players. The ball ended up in the net with Price taking the credit. Just after the half hour mark, Marjon’s number 9 was almost played in but the Town keeper got there first. The glovesman was in more meaningful action a minute later following a flowing move from the hosts. The Marjon right back collected a ball over the top, laid it off to number 7 whose sweeping shot was acrobatically turned over the bar for a corner. Another good move from the home side saw number 17 poking just wide at the far post after good work by his team mates to get the ball to him. Axminster had more luck with a minute left in the half. Waldy was fouled in the box – no complaints about the decision from the Marjon men – and Jamie Girton converted the penalty. 3-0 at half time.

Plymouth Marjon needed something special in the second half and they definitely looked like a different team. A corner on 51 minutes was headed down into the ground but, unfortunately for them bounced over the goal. With under 30 minutes to go Waldy fired wide from 18 yards for the away side. Marjon would push on looking for a way back into the game – some good wing play from their number 11 created a couple of good chances: first he crossed to number 10 who was leaning back and shot well over; then he laid the ball off to number 4 who similarly couldn’t keep his shot down, but really should have hit the target. The Axminster goalkeeper was finally called into action again – this time a great free kick from Marjon’s number 10 was destined for the top corner before the keeper intervened. Soon after the home keeper was also called upon – a point blank save from an Axminster corner. On 83 minutes, the Tigers finally put the game to bed – Reece McCabe was put through on goal, his shot was partly charged down by a defender which only served to wrong-foot the goalkeeper. 4 minutes later Axminster were reduced to 10 men. The player in question was fouled but as he got to his feet appeared to push the Marjon player’s head into the astroturf. The referee – who had been berated, along with his assistants for the whole match – had no hesitation in sending him off. With the 90 minutes up, the home team so nearly had a consolation but number 15’s shot hit the base of the post and rebounded out for a goal kick. And it would be Axminster who had the final word deep into injury time, albeit from an unfortunate source. Marjon’s number 6 diverted a cross into his own net, rubbing salt into some Plymouth wounds.