IN their penultimate game of the season, Lyme Regis Reserves were away to a strong East Budleigh side which has finished runners-up in the Devon League Division One East.

The Seasiders travelled with a small squad, going into the last week of the season  with many injuries and players fatigued from the number of games having to be played in such a short space of time.

Although Lyme levelled the game at 1-1 when the ever- active Josh Daines had his ankles clipped in the box and Harvey Brimicombe despatched the penalty low into the corner, the freshness and ability of the East Budleigh players took hold, leaving the Ressies with a disappointing 6-1 loss.

Going into the last weekend of the season, Lyme struggled to get a squad together with players injured or unavailable, but were boosted by the presence of the experienced Gary and Mike Knight, who were playing their first games of football in some months and made it through the whole 90 minutes, showing they still are both very accomplished players.

The Seasiders played with energy and end-of-season fun, making a really good go of the game, but unfortunately conceded form an early corner from which they had two attempts to clear.

With half-time looming, Sam Pollard-Jones, who had stepped down from the first team to make up a full side, put in a fantastic corner which Wallace Blackmore, who lost his marker brilliantly, thumped a header into the back of the net.

The second half saw two teams who were clearly tired from a long season, both of which created very little in the way of clear-cut chances. But towards the end, a looping header managed to avoid stand-in  keeper Robbie Fowler, usually playing at centre-half. He stepped in to play in goal as none of the club's four keepers were available, but he couldn't quite get enough on it to turn it over the bar and it ended up in the net.

A draw would have been the fair result, but it wasn't to be, even though every player on the pitch gave maximum effort. It was great to see Jake Bearpark make it through 90 minutes in attacking midfield, a player who has been plagued by a knee injury, but who still has huge potential.