Lyme Regis 1st team returned to league action on Saturday after a lay-off of four weeks caused by the Christmas/New Year break and weather postponements.

An away trip to the Devon and Exeter Premier division's bottom club, Okehampton Reserves, was just the sort of fixture the Seasiders wanted to ease them back into the fray. But how wrong that turned out to be.

The previous week Okehampton, with just one win to their season, had shipped 11 goals and might well have expected another big defeat against third placed Lyme.

The Seasiders fell well short of returning home with the points, however, in one of their poorest performances for some time.

With the absence of influential Gary Knight and a late injury to Robbie Fowler, Lyme were very light at the back. Alex Rowe filled in unfamiliar position at centre-back with, with Haydn Lewis coming in at right back.

A slow start was soon punished, no closing down on the edge of the box with Okehampton player finishing in the top corner. From there on Lyme fortunes went from bad to worse with the home team going two up before half-time.

The Seasiders rallied in the second half with Steve Batey coming on for Josh Rawlins and making a huge difference. They piled on the pressure and had several chances flashing across the goal when a touch could have found the net.

With Lyme pushing hard to get back into the game, a breakaway ball over the top sent the Okehampton attacker forward but he was brought down by keeper Chris Higgs and the resultant penalty made it 3-0.

Lyme did manage to get one back, Brad Rowe poking home in the six-yard box after a scramble. Ben Turner then got himself sent off for dissent, the referee having little choice as he was being assessed.

The Lyme players trudged off the pitch with their heads held low, one commenting after the game: "It was a terrible day at the at the office. We deserved to lose."

One encouraging factor for the Seasiders was the performance of young winger Ethan Matthews, making his debut for the first team. He ran his full-back ragged all afternoon and looks to be a very useful acquisition. 

The defeat sees Lyme drop to fourth place in the Devon and Exeter Premier division with the chasing pack having games in hand. On Saturday Lyme meet Okehampton again in the return home fixture (kick-off 3pm).

The club's fortunes did not improve at home where Lyme Reserves lost 4-1 to Witheridge in a another disappointing performance. The Seasiders second string got off to a dismal start, conceding two goals in the opening two minutes from which they never really recovered.

Lyme fought back when goal-keeper-cum-striker Will Meech slotted home a long ball from keeper Rob Harp to make it 2-1. The home glove man found himself in the thick of things a minute before half-time when he was caught well off his line as he tried to extinguish another attack from Witheridge to make it 3-1 and went on to dominate the second half to completed the scoreline.

On Saturday the Reserves travel to Broadclyst 1sts who sit in ninth place in Division Three.