Exmouth Town advanced to the next round of the Devon Bowl, as they beat Tavistock 3-1 at the Complete Infrastructure Stadium.

Two fantastic Louis Morison strikes, and a first Town goal for Isaac McCue gave the hosts a confidence boost heading into this weekend’s league clash at Langsford Park.

Neither side found a rhythm early on, with both teams fielding numerous changes to their teams that played Saturday.

Morison had the first real attempt of the game, as a Joe Belsten cross found his head, but that was wide of the mark.

The former Tiverton man was back in his previous position of central midfield, and he marked that occasion by opening the scoring with a thunderbolt free-kick from around 25 yards out.

Exmouth would have the next chance of the game, as Tavistock claimed for a penalty before being subsequently caught on the break by Belsten, who slotted Ben Griffith in behind, but McCue couldn’t quite find Ace High with his following pass.

The Lambs would get a chance to get an equaliser after a miscommunication at the back, but Alfie Cunningham couldn’t capitalise and fired wide.

There was a hectic end to the half, as a cross just missed the unmarked Liam Prynn in the box, and Town went up the other end, where High came close with a cross/shot that almost beat Dearing.

Exmouth started the half strong through an unlikely source, as Karl Riddell’s marauding run was rewarded with a pass from Griffith, but the defender couldn’t quite sort his feet out and the shot was blocked.

Moments later, Morison would strike again, when he picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, and smashed into the back of the net on his left foot.

Exmouth continued to threaten, with Aarron Denny playing McCue in on goal, who took possibly a touch too many and fired over.

After making a great tackle to deny a good Tavistock chance, Belsten would provide an assist up the other end, as he played the ball across goal to McCue, who took his chance and put the ball into the empty net.

The game would fizzle out after that goal, with the mixture of rain and multiple substitutions making the end of the game a rather slow one.

Tavistock would come on strong towards the end, having chances through Cunningham and Jacob Bowker, and they would get one back in added time, as Prynn was fouled by Dave Rowe, before stepping up to fire the penalty home.

Exmouth would advance to the next round, and will look to take lessons from this game into the next one, as they reverse the fixture for some Southern League Division One South action at Langsford Park on Saturday. 

ATTENDANCE: 101

LINE-UP: Powell, Thorne (Haynes, 58), Cann, Riddell, Landricombe (Rowe, 67), Williams (Denny, 45), Belsten, McCue, High (Bath, 60), Morison, Griffith (Llewellyn, 69).