‘Two points dropped’ from Newton Abbot Spurs’ stalemate with Stoke

NEWTON Abbot Spurs’ first visitors at The Rec for the 2026/27 campaign were Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police with plenty of chances for the headlines to write themselves on Tuesday, August 18.

Stoke’s former managerial duo Matt Hayden and Sam Biscoe are now in the Spurs dugout whilst Connor Marshall has moved in the opposite direction, not to mention that several players have followed in their respective paths.

For Hayden, the stalemate was a case of “Two points dropped without a doubt”, rather than one gained.

One of those to make the switch (from Spurs to Stoke) was midfielder Brad Crocombe and it took him mere seconds to put in a trademark, crunching tackle.

Whilst the game was bubbling under the surface on multiple occasions, it never did spill out into an all-out brawl by any means.

The fixture began at a really frenetic pace with neither side keeping possession for long, in part due to the “incredibly difficult” pitch conditions.

Spurs had a couple of half-chances from set-pieces and at the other end, Luke Forward went close twice from distance, forcing goalkeeper Jimmy Weeks to make a smart stop on one occasion.

Forward, recently moving from Buckland Athletic to Bideford AFC, is dual-registered with Stoke as well. For his third attempt of the half, he drifted off of his marker but failed to keep his effort down.

Shortly before the break, Sam Hancox and Sammy Stayt were limping for either side and the former was unable to continue, Jaden Bond going on in his place.

The second half then saw Spurs take on the ascendancy, as affirmed by Hayden: “Once we regrouped at half-time, settled the boys down and made them believe that they’re good footballers, I think we took full control.”

Quick-thinking from Jacob Osbourne and then Saul Vanes set up another couple of chances for the hosts but they were “lacking that moment to finish the chances we created.”

Further substitutes were made from both managers as they looked to find the decisive edge.

Toby Hard nearly came up with it for Spurs, his bicycle kick from Tom Burt’s cross forcing the Stoke keeper into a save.

As the clock ticked on, it looked as if there could be only one winner but Vanes and co lacked the composure to break the deadlock.

It was far from a classic and one that won’t live long in the memories of those in attendance at The Rec- perhaps the highlight of the evening was the mascot’s punishment of a half-time crossbar challenge.

“Disappointment” was the overriding feeling for Hayden and with the game there to be won in the second half, Stoke “had a couple of half chances but nothing really to threaten us and with the chances we created, on another day, we could have finished that game four or 5-0.”

There was no vendetta for the Spurs manager against his former club but “The way that I was treated added an edge for me to want to win the game, not prove a point but to show that maybe the decision they made was the wrong one.”

He continued, “The main focus was on us getting another result in the league and picking up three points.

“Against a local team and an old team, there’s always going to be a bit more in it but then it’s down to me and Sam to keep the focus and make sure we concentrate solely on ourselves rather than getting involved in anything silly.”

On the flipside, Bees boss Marshall felt that his team “could have killed the game [in the first half] personally,” then admitting that “the last 25/30 minutes was Spurs and Spurs only.”

This game was a “step in the right direction” for Marshall, whose side remain resolute at the back.

“The fact that we’ve not conceded from open play is a massive achievement, we’ll work on the set-pieces, that will take time, but we’ve been chopping and changing, it’s that time of the season when people are still on holiday.”

Spurs will go on the road once more on Saturday, August 22, paying Bishops Lydeard a visit, whereas Stoke are back at Broadley Lane, playing host to Ilminster Town.