Ottery St Mary Under-9s had a mixed morning with a defeat before a splendid success in meetings with Exeter sides.

First up the young Otters took on a good Whipton side. The two teams enjoyed equal possession, but the spark that has been present in the Otters side in recent weeks seemed to go missing! A couple of defensive errors and a little bit of bad luck left the Otters on the wrong end of a 3-1 score line with the one consolation being a magnificent strike for Jack Carpenter.

Whatever was lacking in the first game came back to the young Otters for the second game against City Raiders. With Zak Wilkinson back in goal and Robbie Larcombe holding the defence with Jake Blackmore, the Otters found their stride again. Encouragingly, young midfielder Sam Hatswell regained his belief in himself and played with enormous confidence and skill. The game ended in a convincing win for the Otters, their goals coming from Freddie Clarke, Sam Gleeson and a couple of stunning strikes from young Josh Howard.