The prolonged break from football has done nothing to dampen the winning mentality at Ottery St Mary Football Club.
The men’s first-team begin their campaign in the Devon Football League mini tournament with a fascinating home encounter against the University of Exeter next Wednesday (April 14).
To get themselves in the mood, Lorin Newcombe scored a brace and there were goals for Luka Nickles and Liam Carey in an entertaining 4-3 warm-up win over Buckland Athletic Reserves on Good Friday.
The competitive juices are already flowing for Ottery 2nds, as they look to close a 13-point gap on Axminster Town Reserves in Division 2 East of the Devon and Exeter League.
The revised tables and fixture schedule does give the Otters four games in hand on the Tigers, starting with a Connor Swingler strike and an own goal securing a hard-fought 2-1 win over Exeter United.
Ottery’s second-team travel to Pinhoe this weekend, while Axminster host a lowly East Budleigh Reserves.
The Development side at Washbrook Meadows are only behind leaders Falcons FC on goal difference in Division 4 East.
Falcons edged in front in the standings with a 6-0 win at Bradninch on Saturday, while the Otters were made to work considerably harder in defeating Lympstone Reserves 2-1.
It was a pair of results that set the stage perfectly for an Easter Monday showdown at Falcons, where, despite dominating for long periods, the Otters had to settle for a 1-1 draw, thanks to a stunning goal from Max Thomas.
The Ottery Development boys head to Bradninch on Saturday and the Falcons take on bottom club Exmouth Town 3rds.
A positive restart also extended to the youth section at Washbrook Meadows, with the Under-8s and Under-11s all involved in fixtures.
The goals were flying in for the Under-13s, who eventually ran out 8-4 winners over Brixington after the scores had been locked at 3-3 in the first half.
Ottery Under-16s welcomed Colyton on Sunday, going down to a 4-2 defeat in the end, as the youngsters look to get back into the rhythm of regular football.