League Match

 

Bude Reserves 3    V     Northam Lions 4 
(Abandoned 70 mins)

 

An entertaining game and not all for the right reasons as a Bude player grabbed a hat trick and four players were sent off before the game was forced to be abandoned. 
Bude took an early lead after just 2 minutes with route one football, a long kick from keeper Bob Freestone, was missed by the Northam centre back and John Clayton had time to bring the ball down and slot in to the corner just inside the box.  Against the early run of play Northam equalised in the 10th minute when their striker was put through and from the left chipped in to the far right hand corner.  Bude soon retook the lead when a Jason Stewart cross from the right found Clayton rise at the back post and head in from close range.  Bude were well on top and increased their lead when Stevie Thompson broke free of the defence and just inside the box unselfishly squared the ball to Clayton for a simple tap in and an early hat trick.  Things went from bad to worse for Northam just before half time, a late tackle from Budes Jason Stewart saw him booked for the challenge but the Northam player got up and slapped Stewart across the face which the ref gave a straight red for.
The players ratio was soon levelled up when Bude went down to 10 men after 50 minutes, a late tackle on Stewart saw him appeal for a free kick which the ref saw as dissent and gave him a second yellow card and removal from the field. Bude were then reduced to 9 men as Liam Anderson got a straight red after getting tangled up in an incident which was a bit handbags, but the ref was a getting a taste for brandishing cards so the card was brought out again.  Bude tried reorganising their depleted team but Northam took advantage of various openings scoring two quick goals to level the score.  The ref wasn't finished with the cards and must be on commission as Budes Simon Chadwick was then red carded saying something to an opposing player leaving Bude with 8 players on the pitch.  In the 70th minute a Northam player was put through down the left, the linesman's flag went up but the referee, well behind play thought he was in a better position to see it and waved play on, the player went through and chipped over outcoming keeper Freestone, defender Josh Allen scrambled back to clear but caught ball and post, sending the ball in to the goal and saw himself going down with a suspected break to the leg and dislocated hip.  The ambulance was called but being possibly an hour away the game had to be abandoned with the game possibly having to be replayed.  The club wish Josh a quick recovery after having it x-rayed was only bad bruising but will be out for a few weeks.