A long hard season for Ottery St Mary U18s has come to a conclusion and the young Otters can take great memories from the campaign, especially the Cup final victory.

In the league, Ottery hosted Clyst Valley in their penultimate game and were in front within five minutes, Oliver Bradley tucking away the rebound after Zac Tillery had struck the bar with a deft header.

The lead was extended when Jake Haggerty switched a lovely pass to Joel Jackson, who cleverly beat his marker before slotting a cool finish, and Ottery soon had a third, Finn Foster firing home after a flick by Jack Drew-Cull.

The Otters were 4-0 up by half-time, Drew-Cull firing an astute angled finish into the corner. Unfortunately for Clyst, there was no respite after the break, as Luke Paramore added number five before Bradley picked up on a Tilley backheel to make it 6-0.

Ethan Hawes joined the party with a confident penalty and the scoring was complete when Tilley floated in a free-kick for Haggerty to head past the Clyst custodian.

It was then on to the local derby with Exmouth Town and nothing between the sides in the early exchanges. Paramore went close for Ottery, who were also grateful to Haydon Simpson and Reece Alexander for some strong defending.

Louis Stephen then provided the pass for Drew-Cull to break the deadlock and goalkeeper Russ Bracey demonstrated his quality with a top save after the interval.

The decisive second came from Stephen with a superb finish and Paramore completed a 3-0 win, as the Otters finished second in the table

Congratulations to Bideford U18s for winning the league and to the young Otters for pushing them all the way.  

Manager Dave Haggerty said: “What a season it has been for the young ones. Now we can finally draw a line and all move over to the next chapter at Honiton Football Club. 

“The coaches are extremely proud of every single one of them. We couldn’t have asked anymore. Thank you to all the parents who have supported us all the way.”