Devon and Exeter five

Starcross 1

South Zeal 4

THIS was not the ideal preparation for South Zeal who came into this game on the back of two disappointing results at home.

To make matters worse Zeal started with 10 men as players struggled to make kick off.

Starcross showed early signs of promise creating a number of half chances in the first 10 minutes, but fought well and were rewarded with their first goal when a swift counter attack saw Jack Davey lay it on to the dangerous left peg of Ryan Dennis, who drilled it to the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Starcross played good football for the rest of the half but did not really threaten the Zeal goal with the return of Matt Dennis at centre back looking strong.

The high press on the Starcross defence, led by George Jeffery, forced mistakes and after 25 minutes Boother was gifted an opportunity and he calmly slotted home to make it 2-0 to South Zeal.

A well taken short corner worked its way around the edge of the box before Boother curled it into the top corner to make the score 3-0 at half time.

South Zeal found it much harder to get going in the second half. But when Samuel Jones was brought down on the edge of the box it was the perfect opportunity for Ollie Jefferies to get his first goal for the club — a thunderous effort that hit the far top corner before the keeper had moved.

South Zeal were desperate to hold on to that invaluable clean sheet but were unable to do so when a scrappy period in their penalty box saw the Starcross player poke the ball home to leave the final score 4-1.

This was a good performance from South Zeal that showed plenty of commitment and fight, something that they had lacked in previous weeks.