League Match

St.Stephens 3   Bude 4 

An eventful game saw three people sent from the wet field but none of them playing, after a dreadful game for the referee.  Bude took the lead after 15 minutes when Tommy Statton was put clear on goal, his strike hit the keeper who went down early and the ball shot over him. Bude extended their lead early in the second half when the ball was played in to Statton on the edge of the box who flicked it through the defence to Shane Looker to score.  The fun then began after some awful decisions the referee ejected one of the Bude supporters from the sidelines. The game resumed after a 5-10 minute delay with the rain making the pitch almost unplayable and Bude seemed to go asleep as St.Stephens scored two quick goals from headed corners, Ryan Stephens and Martin Matthews the scorers. Within minutes Bude were back in front, a corner wasn't cleared and left back Dan Middelton struck a sweet right foot shot from just inside the box in to the far right hand corner. As Bude were still celebrating, St.Stephens went straight to the other end and drew level again when Craig Coad hit a superb strike from the left off the far right post and in.  With 15 mins remaining Bude were denied a penalty as a defender clearly handled the ball on the line from a Bude shot, the referee just yards away failed to give it and Bude manager Adrian Warburton could no longer keep his cool and was sent from the touchline along with another supporter.  Bude got back to the game and continued to pressure the home side for the last 10 minutes and were rewarded with their efforts in the final minutes when a goalmouth scramble saw young Josh Kerslake poke to the ball in to the net from close range to win the game for Bude on his first team debut.