Saturday, November 30

Verde Recreo Hockey League

Southern Two

Ashmoor A 3

BUDE made it two games unbeaten after sharing the spoils with promotion-chasing Ashmoor A at the Budehaven Sports Centre.

Buoyed by recent results and performances, but with the added bonus of key players returning from injuries, Bude started extremely well and they were unlucky not to go ahead early as they peppered the visitors’ goal with David Woodward coming closest. From a swift counter attack through the middle, he cooly rounded the keeper and fired home on the reverse side, only to be denied by the post!

As the half wore on the Ashburton-based visitors began to settle and create sustained pressure on the Bude defence which turned into a number of short corners. And despite their best efforts, Bude were unlucky to go behind as a sharp short corner routine was tapped home after the ball was fired across the D to the back-post.

Bude rallied but fell further behind as a foul on the 23-metre line was taken quickly and the Ashmoor midfielder dribbled his way to the edge of the D where he shot straight at goal and the ball somehow squeezed in between keeper Andy Davis’ legs to give the Devon club the lead at the interval.

Bude started the second-half determined and in a similar vain to the first by creating the better chances. Yet this time they got a foot in the door as Tom Fry drag flicked the ball into the back of the net from a short corner.

A frantic period of play came next as both teams went toe to toe. This allowed Davis to make amends for the second goal as he pulled off a string of good saves, ably backed up by his superb defence ensuring the game remained on a knife’s edge.

Bude pulled out all the stops to draw back level as some excellent forward play manufactured a short corner which was perfectly dispatched by David Woodward for his third goal in two games.

The game then turned as the visitors were then reduced in numbers as temporary suspensions were given for poor tackling and violent language.

This allowed the Cornishmen to the take the initiative. Utilising the momentum swing and extra space, Dan Jourdain went on a magical run from central defence linking seamlessly with the midfield and beyond as he then made his way into the D from where he fired home a match-winning shot, but the visiting goalkeeper just got a glove to the ball. However it dropped kindly to Fry, who was in superlative form all game, to fire home a thunderbolt into the bottom corner, much to the delight of the home supporters.

As Ashmoor came back to full strength they turned the screw on Bude, and after a number of vital saves by Davis, there was nothing he nor the defence could do as Ashmoor forced home an equaliser from a well-worked short corner.

A late spurt from Ashmoor saw them create a couple more excellent shots on goal but Davis saved his best saves till last, culminating in the dying minutes with a perfect mid-air stick save to keep the scores level and cruelly steal a tight man-of-the-match award away from Fry and Jourdain, who were equally outstanding.

Team spokesperson, Andy Davis said: “Credit must go the whole team who put in a remarkable shift against a top quality side and we can now look forward to the final game of the first half of the season away to OPM on Saturday, knowing another similar performance will keep the precious points flowing.”