IT wasn’t that long ago that one South West Peninsula League Premier East season drew to a close and the fixtures for another are already upon us.

The league published the fixture list on the morning of Monday, June 9 with some fascinating clashes to look forward to straight away.

A Friday night opener seems particularly fitting with Newton Abbot Spurs welcoming Okehampton Argyle to The Rec on August 1. Both league meetings last season went the way of Spurs, 4-0 at Simmons Park and then 2-1 on home soil, with Marc Revell’s men finishing runners-up to champions Sidmouth Town.

Revell and his brother Simon are no longer in charge with Connor Marshall filling the void, an ambitious individual who is aiming high. He told the Mid-Devon Advertiser, “I thought they could have done it this year so it is just about tweaking it, my mindset is I want to win the league.”

Talking of local teams with title ambitions and Bovey Tracey AFC ended last season in unstoppable form, winning their last five games, four of which came under the stewardship of Ben Gerring.

Gerring said this, “We want to win this league, the club want to be in the Western League and it’s on me to deliver that.”

His side will begin their title charge away at Bishops Lydeard on Saturday, August 2, having finished six places and 17 points ahead of them last term.

Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police enjoyed some immense highs as they won several games on the spin whilst also going through dry spells, resulting in a sixth-place finish on 47 points. Two places ahead of them were Cullompton Rangers and that is who will visit Broadley Lane on opening day.

With Bovey and Stoke in mind, defender Jordan Thomas switching the former for the latter is one of the more fascinating pieces of business conducted so far this summer. Gerring spoke highly of this new addition to us: “Jordan is a player who can be a threat from attacking set-pieces and can also defend his own box. He’s very calm on the ball.”

For Teignmouth AFC, they will be playing away from home until further notice following their devastating ground issues, the first destination for them being Ilfracombe Town, a new side at the level following their relegation from the Western League.

Ilminster Town are the other recent arrivals and they can look forward to a game away at Torridegside AFC.

Argyle will return to South Devon a couple of weeks later to take on Teignmouth but of course, it remains to be seen if that game will be played at Coombe Valley or not.

A mouthwatering clash between Spurs and Bovey takes place in Newton Abbot on Tuesday, August 19 with both teams aiming for top spot. Callum Noyce’s switch from Spurs to the Moorlanders is an added level of interest for what should be a fascinating affair.

The following Tuesday, Spurs are in action against a team of interest again in the form of Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police, Stoke going on to host Teignmouth and visit Okehampton after that.

Bovey vs Teignmouth (Tuesday, September 9), Bovey vs Okehampton (Saturday, September 27) and Spurs vs Bridport- second vs third from last season (Saturday, October 25), are three other provisional fixtures of note in the early stages.