Devon and Exeter division three

Topsham Town 1

ALTHOUGH Topsham had plenty of possession Zeal's three pronged attack of Darren Gilbert, Darren Prouse and Phil Evans were always a thorn in the side for the home team.

It came as no surprise when Zeal went one up after 20 minutes when Jamie Atherton put Darren Gilbert through down the left and he produced a great finish from an acute angle.

In the second half the pattern was much the same with Zeal defending well in numbers with Tom Reilly having a great game in front of the back four. After 55 minutes Darren Gilbert scored again when he chased down a defender and intercepted a pass to the keeper before he coolly rounded the keeper and sidefooted into an empty net.

Topsham threw everything at Zeal and with 15 minutes left cut the deficit to one when one of their central midfielders gave Reg Wonnacott in the Zeal goal no chance with a perfect strike from 20 yards.

In the final 20 minutes the back four of Zeal were superb and the game was made safe with five minutes left when Will Eddy played a great through ball to Phil Evans who fooled two defenders and the keeper to give Zeal a 3-1 victory.

The previous week Zeal progressed to the last 16 of the Bill Slee cup by winning 2-1 against a good Okehampton Argyle side with goals from Darren Gilbert and Phil Evans.

n Next week Teignmouth away in the Devon Senior cup.