IT took Minehead just 40 seconds to concede their first league goal of the season and they went on to suffer a heavy defeat at Torrington in their opening game of the new campaign on Saturday.

Torrington, fancied by many to feature strongly in the promotion hunt, completely outplayed Minehead during the first 45 minutes.

Immediately after the start Lee Langmead left several defenders stranded before firing a powerful low shot into the corner of the net after only 40 seconds, and the visitors' goal continued to come under heavy pressure before Andy Stevens went close to increasing the lead when he struck an upright.

Keeper Richard Gannon and Lee Nunn were conspicuous in an overworked defence and matters took a turn for the worse in the 24th minute when Mat Heywood was shown a red card for allegedly kicking Langmead in the penalty area and Barry Yeo stroked home the spot kick.

In a rare Minehead attack, Marc Antonelli had his attempt blocked, but this was Minehead's only real threat on goal and it was Torrington's Stevens who was again unlucky when he saw his header hit the bar.

It was a case of deja vu when, 40 seconds after the interval, Langmead strolled through a static defence to score virtually a carbon copy of his opening goal.

And despite two brilliant saves from the overworked Gannon, Minehead looked to be heading for a real trouncing when Andy Stevens made the score 4-0 after 58 minutes.

Two more brave saves by Gannon denied the home side further goals and after 66 minutes Minehead made a double substitution, bringing on Simon Antonelli and Craig Carr for Steve Perkins and Paul Long.

The change brought a quick result as a superb long through ball from Carr found the energetic Marc Antonelli unmarked and he made no mistake with a fierce shot.

For a short period Minehead came into the match and the home defence began to look a little vulnerable, but after Lee Nunn marred an otherwise fine performance by getting booked for what can only be described as petulance, Karl Madge netted Torrington's fifth goal in the 90th minute.

Minehead: R Gannon, M Lewis, L Nunn, M Heywood, P Snow, P Long, M Antonelli, M Muscroft, N Watson, S Perkins, D Burr, subs C Carr, S Antonelli, G Howard (all used) .

l Minehead, who have this season dropped the "Town" extension to their name, are hoping for a bumper Bank Holiday Weekend crowd when they play their opening home game of the season tomorrow (Saturday) against neighbours Wellington at the Recreation Ground.

For several seasons both clubs have seemed to "share" players, with each encounter producing several individuals who have represented both sides at some time.

This has undoubtedly added spice to the local derbies, and today's encounter should be no exception, with Wellington's Steve Nichols, John Norman and Mark Brereton having appeared in the blue shirt of Minehead in recent seasons.

Last season saw Wellington finish one place above the Blues in 17th position.

The league encounter at Irnham Road last season will be remembered by home fans who saw the Blues storm into a match winning 5-0 lead before half-time, with both Dave Sowden and Gary Bennett scoring spectacular goals from more than 30 yards. The second half was a far tamer affair with Minehead only adding one further goal.

Wellington recovered some composure to hold Minehead to a 2-2 draw later in the season in the return match.

In 18 previous league meetings of the two clubs, Minehead have won eight times to Wellington's three, But Wellington hold the upper hand in cup victories, having twice knocked the blues out of the Somerset Premier Cup.

The following Saturday, August 31, sees Minehead at home in the FA Cup to Dr Martens League side Gloucester City.