Upwey & Broadwey 4

STOURPAINE 2

DEADLY Ethan Devaney plundered a hat-trick as Upwey & Broadwey wrapped up their season with a 4-2 win over Stourpaine.

Devaney scored twice in the first half and added to his tally after the interval – inspiring Upwey to three points that ensures they can finish no lower than ninth in the Dorset Senior League.

Sean Stewart was also on target for the Weymouth outfit, who had seen a two-goal lead evaporate before they finally reasserted their superiority at the Grove.

Stourpaine had halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time and then shocked Upwey with an equaliser 10 minutes into the second period, leaving the match firmly in the balance.

However, Devaney made it 3-2 and Stewart scored the goal of the game, surging forward before playing a one-two with Ty Young and slamming the ball home.

Reflecting on the victory, Upwey boss Steve Reynolds said: “It was a quiet affair to begin with but we were in the driving seat and Ethan scored twice to put us comfortably in front.

“But we conceded right on half-time after a rare mistake from Ben Porteous, who has been so reliable for us this season. It was a disappointing time to lose a goal.

“We said at the break that we were doing all the right things but needed to up the pace. We had about three gears we could go up but unfortunately we got caught square in the second half and conceded again.

“But from then on we were in full control. Ben made up for his mistake by crossing for Ethan to complete his hat-trick and Sean scored a great goal.”

After saluting Devaney, Rey-nolds lavished praise on Jason Pearce, adding: “Ethan has that extra bit of quality but man of the match was Jason Pearce, who was absolutely superb – nobody could get near him.”

Upwey have finished the season strongly following a disastrous sequence of five straight defeats that put paid to their promotion hopes.

Half a dozen victories in their last nine outings has left Reynolds with real optimism ahead of next season, when he expects his side to mount a title charge.

He said: “The win over Stour-paine keeps us ticking along. It was a shame we couldn’t beat Okeford United in our previous game because that would have made us the highest-placed club in the borough.

“If you look at our last 10 games we have been in promotion form and if we had not had that sticky patch in the middle of the season we may well have finished in the top two.”

Upwey: Coltart, Coombs, McLucas (Ansell 60), Burton, Porteous, Pearce, Zima, Stewart, Young, Sweetser-Hawkes, Devaney.