TWO goals inside the opening 10 minutes proved to be the difference as Newton Abbot Spurs dispatched Teignmouth AFC in a South Devon derby on Good Friday.

Teignmouth boss Liam Jones admitted that his side “didn’t start well at all” at The Rec, adding that, “When we give them two early goals, we subsequently then have to chase the game.”

With less than three minutes on the clock, winger Kai Swann fired the home side ahead in front of a strong crowd in Newton Abbot.

Tate Breslan-Aggrey and Toby Pullman linked up well down the left flank before the latter picked out Jaden Bond, who in-turn laid it off for Swann to strike, picking out the top corner and making it three goals in three.

Spurs continued to cause the Teignmouth backline headaches and after Pullman forced one good stop out of the visiting goalkeeper, quite the mishap followed moments later. Putting the pressure on, the league’s top-scorer nicked the ball away and tapped into the empty net.

To the delight of their manager Marc Revell, Spurs showed “bags of fight and energy” from the off and had a two-goal advantage to show for it.

Teignmouth were able to stem the flow and create some chances of their own but were unable to convert, a pitfall in the eyes of Jones. “We had some good looks at goal in the first half but just didn’t take any. That was the difference maker and at that point, the game starts to drift.”

There could and probably should have been more goals at both ends before the break, Callum Noyce taking the ball away from teammate Breslan-Aggrey and attempting to round the keeper, only to be denied by an outstretched hand.

Noyce came to the fore once more, beating the last man and his goal-bound effort was kept out by a remarkable fingertip save.

When the teams turned around, there were two goals in it and Spurs scored a very early goal in the second-half as well.

Teignmouth wanted what Jones labelled as a “clear foul on halfway” only for the free kick to go the other way seconds later. From the set-piece, Bond arrived at the back post to poke the ball across the goal for Breslan-Aggrey to convert, giving Spurs an unassailable lead.

Nobody in the red of the Teigns was all that impressed by the man in the middle and there was further controversy still to come.

Jones commented: “You never want to get too much into the officiating but I think that was one of the poorest referees we’ve had this season.

“It’s just a shame, it probably ruined it as a spectacle for most of the people watching on. When the supporters, both sets of players and both sets of coaches are left baffled, then you do have to wonder.”

A few quickfire yellow cards came out and it will have surprised nobody to see Spurs centre-back Finn Pearse in and amongst all of the drama.

Pearse’s late tackle earned him a caution before the ref then upped the punishments, Teignmouth’s Harry Breslan heading to the sin-bin first for something said.

Their striker was then shown a red card, walking off with a wry smile as the levels of disbelief rose around The Rec, Tom Lobb meanwhile joining Breslan in temporary timeout to make it 10 players against nine.

Despite the man advantage, Spurs were unable to add to their tally although Breslan-Aggrey did have the ball in the back of the net. His first-time chip over the oncoming goalkeeper was swiftly ruled out by the linesman’s flag and the youngster was actually booked as the whistle had already gone.

As Teignmouth looked to at least notch a consolation, they surely should have had a penalty when Lewis Breslan brought down his man after being beaten on the byline.

They were then presented with a spot-kick just seconds later as the lively Zak Khadaroo was felled once more- many perceived this sliding tackle from substitute Frazer Rudge to have been a clean one, including the Teignmouth bench.

Talking of substitutes and shortly after coming on, Jack Towill took responsibility and sent Joel Hawker-Patchett the wrong way.

Breslan-Aggrey missed a chance to restore Spurs’ three-goal lead and Teignmouth kept pushing for their second of the day but to no avail.

Jones and co were “massively disappointed” with the defeat whilst on the other side, Revell was “buzzing to get bragging rights from a derby game.”

Revell continued, “I hate seeing a lacklustre derby. There were plenty of cards and so I was grateful that we showed up for it and had a bit of bite.

“I want to win every game obviously but there’s an added excitement when you beat a rival.”

The returning Spurs manager said that “It feels like I never went away”, Revell recently coming back in to replace the outgoing Connor Marshall after himself departing the club back in the summer.

“I’ve just dropped straight back into the rhythm. It’s easy enough, it’s not a new club nor a new squad and I wasn’t away for that long, so it has been a seamless return.”

On the whole, both managers were glad to have a Good Friday outing, playing in front of a strong crowd and putting on a show for them.

In the words of Jones, “This is what you play for, these derby games and games that are on Boxing Day or Good Friday.”

He added, “What is good is that when you lose, you have an opportunity to bounce back pretty quickly, we host Ilminster on Monday and we can go again.

“That’s what we’ve said to the lads, make sure we take our medicine today and then we can put it right in just a few days.”

Revell was singing off of a similar hymn sheet; “Easter is always about football for me and Teignmouth and Spurs are two clubs who align well so it’s great to be able to have to a catch up and a drink after the game.”

As mentioned there, Teignmouth will play host to Ilminster Town on Easter Monday (Apr 6) at Coombe Valley with Spurs playing at The Rec once more, welcoming Ilfracombe Town this time around.