NEWTON Abbot Spurs showed little sign of hangover from their 25-day hiatus as they cruised to a 3-1 Peninsula League win over Elmore on Saturday.

A barnstorming display saw goals from the familiar sources of Toby Pullman and James Moxon, with full-back Jaden Bond adding the third of the game and his first of the season. Callum Old pulled one back for the visitors.

‘I’m happy,’ said Newton Spurs boss Marc Revell. ‘That’s our first game since [December] 27, and we had a couple of games called off before then, so I’m happy to look so good and not too rusty. We looked really good – we were purring.

‘I’ve just said to the lads that it is a bit annoying not to score the 15 or 16 goals we could have, but at the same time, credit to Elmore. I think that would have done them an injustice; they were not a bad outfit and they fought where they could but the important thing for us was to get the result.’

Newton blew the cobwebs off with fast start and came close to converting their early pressure. Moxon was the beneficiary of a miscue among the visiting defence and got in behind with a clear view of goal. The striker sent his shot wide of the far post.

But the pressure on the Elmore net would eventually tell as the hosts put their noses in front on 15 minutes. Pullman floated a free-kick in from deep on the right and the ball looped over the awaiting crowd before dropping into the netting behind the far post, catching goalkeeper Owen Vosper off-guard.

Spurs kept the pace up right through to the break and had the lion’s share of possession. Five minutes from half-time, captain Lloyd Gardner turned well and drove towards the penalty area, finding a square ball across the edge of the box to Nick Rudge. Rudge struck a low effort towards the bottom-right corner but saw it saved by the outstretched hand of Vosper.

‘That’s how we play,’ Revell explained. ‘I gave the lads a warning at training in the week that I don’t like Christmas disjointing what we do, and I think if you watch us over the season we do play with high intensity. I’m insistent that doesn’t drop off; I like to keep that intensity up. I’m glad that I got what I expected [from my players].’

With Elmore backs against the wall and a myriad of chances squandered by the hosts, the half-time break was to be a productive one for Revell and his men.

‘Bizarrely, it was a bit Jekyll and Hyde [at half-time],’ Revell said. ‘I had a go at them for missing so many chances but also told them how well they played. It was a little bit of a contradiction but they were so good in the first half.

‘At the end of the day, you have to bury those chances. Elmore were good enough have gotten a goal in that first half and they threatened us a couple of times. We could have come in at 1-1, so it was frustrating, but at the same time I got everything I wanted out of my lads.’

Whatever was said in the confines of the dressing room resonated with Newton Spurs, who doubled their advantage just seven minutes after the restart. Moxon, who put in a tremendous showing in the centre-forward role, chased down and battled for a ball which looked to be rolling out on the right flank before laying it off for Gardner and heading into the centre of the box. Gardner played a delightful switch for Pullman, which he expertly brought under control before crossing in for Moxon. The striker met the ball in the air and bundled home his 12th goal of the season.

Within a minute, Spurs had bagged their third. A cross was headed onto the post by Owen Green and the ball bounced into the middle of the box for full-back Bond to tap home into an empty net.

But Elmore battled on with tremendous spirit. Finlay Newell broke free on 56 minutes and fired a spectacular acrobatic volley as the ball came over his shoulder. Spurs stopper Joel Patchett was off his line quickly and managed to get a crucial touch to the ball, taking the shot safely over the bar. Then, just past the hour mark, the Eagles reduced the arrears with their first goal in five games. A rare error at the back gifted possession to Elmore in a dangerous area, and Old was the beneficiary as he lifted a neat finish across the face of Patchett’s goal.

Revell said: 'Lloyd takes a little bit of responsibility for giving the ball away in that area but because we’re playing so well we drop into this complacent mode. But I won’t be disrespectful to Elmore; they deserved their goal. They were more threatening than I expected them to be.’

Newton were given an opportunity to restore their three-goal cushion on 73 minutes but Moxon’s venomous penalty crashed back off the stanchion.

In the last action of the afternoon, Elmore charged forward on the right flank and whipped a mouth-watering ball across the box. With the delivery looking certain to result in a goal, the outstretched leg of Spurs centre-back Finn Pearse put paid to the cross.

The win comes as the fourth in Newton’s last five, and they have made ground on the promotion spots of the top four. Spurs sit six points behind fourth-placed Brixham – who have two games in hand – but Revell believes that a favourable run of fixtures over the upcoming weeks could see his side edge their way into the mix at the top.

‘We’ve played so many of the higher sides,’ he said, ‘but now we have a generous end to the month with games against teams from nearer the bottom. I’m happy to be in this position, slowly reeling teams in, because there are teams above us that are going to play each other but we don’t have to play anyone above us until Okehampton [Argyle] come [on February 11].

‘We’ll let other teams pull them apart and we’ll hope to capitalise.’