STOKE Gabriel was the location for Friday night’s Dartmouth Cup final between Buckland Athletic and Paignton Villa.

As well as being on hosting duties though, the club had a cup final of their own to worry about the night before.

At the home of Liverton United, Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police FC went toe-to-toe with Watcombe Wanderers’ reserves, the winner getting their hands on Division Three’s Ronald Cup.

Stoke overcame South Brent in the semi-final having been all-square at the break. It went from 1-1 to a final score of 3-2 in that one whereas Watcombe enjoyed a more straightforward affair.

Jamie Smith scored two of the five goals as they beat Totnes and Dartington’s reserves 5-1 on home soil, Charlie Edwards, Harvey Hickman and Simon Ross joining him on the scoresheet.

The greens of Watcombe were chasing yet another trophy here having already collected the Devon Intermediate Cup, and it was certainly an end-to-end affair at Halford.

Stoke probably had the best chances to take the lead but it has to be said that Watcombe are a team who do not leave anything on the pitch- they are a real team of battlers for the club. It took them 33 minutes to break Stoke's resolve, a lovely goal from Jamie Smith following a flowing passing move that saw six players combined.

This eased the Watcombe nerves and Stoke did not look as if they had what it was going to take to get back into the game. Early in the second half, Stoke’s Paul Christie was fortunate not to see a yellow card as he went over in the box in an attempt to gain something for nothing.

A free-kick was given to the Wanderers in this instance even in the absence of a card, the set-piece going straight through to striker Simon Ross who hit a twenty-yard bullet into the top of the Stoke goal, making it 2-0. This is the second cup final in a row that the veteran has found the back of the net and the tremendous Watcombe supporters were there to celebrate this sweet strike with Ross and co.

With the result being effectively over, Jamie Macintyre came on as a substitute and got the third and final goal of the game to set up a possible hat-trick of trophies for Watcombe Wanderers’ reserves. What a season this has been for them, what a team they are, and the league title is firmly in their grasp too. Gareth Kendall and Luke Reeby have certainly done very well with this group of players.

For Stoke Gabriel meanwhile, it wasn’t to be on this occasion and they look likely to finish fifth in the third division which makes for a solid campaign.

They suffered various injury setbacks early on in the final which hampered their progress but retribution awaits, with their last league game seeing them cross paths with Watcombe once again, on Thursday 30 May.