So much for the top 10 levels of football. That is enough for most people but I want to understand the football pyramid and I noted that we in this small part of Exeter have our very own semi professional team. Exwick Villa play in division one East of the South West Peninsula League.
I got hold of a couple of neighbours and persuaded them to join me in an evening assessing our local heroes. They brought their sons with them which made it a pleasant evening of entertainment and chat.
I had done my research, as far as I could on the internet this far down the food chain. The team had played two matches away and won both of them 2-0. A win on a Monday night and we would go top alongside the St Martins team, a team my wife had heard about. She told me they have been very good for a very long time.
The match was colourful as I discovered that our local boys play in deep purple from head to toe. The opposition, Crediton United, turned up in all yellow from head to toe.
The entrance fee proved to be £3.50 for adults with free entry for children. The entrance fee included a program that was much better for this level than I was expecting. It contained all the information that I needed and a list of players but with no numbers leaving me to try and work out who was who. I never did.
The match started well and Exwick showed a degree of skill that I was not expecting. What was missing was the final ball, as two clear cut chances went begging because the ball was passed behind the onrushing attack. On one occasion two players sprinted past the path of the incoming cross and both of them would have had an open goal with just the keeper to beat.
After 20 minutes we were talking about a team that we could come and watch every week, and once we went a goal ahead everything seemed to be in complete control.
Crediton started to come into the game after the Exwick goal and the second half of the first half belonged to them. They equalised while I was watching and I was told that they had two good chances at the end of the first half but I had left for a pint in the pub over the road so that we could be back for the second half. All clubs need a bar to boost profits and keep fans and that is sadly lacking at the moment.
The second half was underway when we returned so I had to check that the score was still 1-1. There were moments of individual brilliance but they were few and far between. We watched the level of effort and control diminish as the game went on. In the end I think the result was fair and maybe slightly flattered Exwick but this is early season and things will change when it gets cold and wet.
It is in the cold and wet of the English winters that the Great British centre halves thrive and the skilful little wingers are driven out of this wonderful game. Yes, I was a winger a long time ago.
