BUDE Town manager, Ryan Leverton, has described his side’s dramatic turnaround in Division One (West) of the 2017/18 Carlsberg South West Peninsula Football League season as a ‘fantastic achievement’.

Despite having just one win to their name by December — The Seasiders picked up 19 points from their last ten games to finish third bottom and ensure another season at Step Seven.

Leverton said that he always believed his side could do it.

He said: “It was a fantastic achievement to stay up. We only had four points at Christmas but then finally got our act together and won six and drew one of our last ten games.

“I was always confident we’d do it as we had a good enough team and the fixtures were still favourable.

“In this league if you get a bit of consistency you can go on a good run. At the start of the season we had to make lots of changes each week but in the second-half of the season we had the same players and the inexperienced ones who hadn’t played at that level brought it all together.”

Last summer was one of the toughest in recent memory at Broadclose Park with lots of personnel leaving, which soon meant the second team, who were competing in Division One of the Mortgage Advice Bureau East Cornwall Premier League, had to be scrapped.

Leverton explained: “We lost several players, including our top goalscorer (Billy Hopcroft) and we didn’t address that all season. Plus there were a lot of inexperienced players having their first or second seasons in this league, which is a completely different kettle of fish compared to what they were used to.

“However by the end they all improved massively and Alex Harrison, who had been playing for Week St Mary the season before, became one of our most reliable players and ended up winning the Supporters’ Player of the Year award.”

While Christmas saw them pick up just a win and a draw, January proved decisive.

Leverton said: “We didn’t sign a lot of players but but in January we brought in Chris Ward from Holsworthy. He’s a centre-back and brought in a bit of professionalism and having him around was a massive plus.

“The main person we had come back was central midfielder Adam Goodgroves. He played a little bit at the start of the season but he came back and him and Wardy made a massive difference and made our defence so much more solid. It improved the others and allowed them to gain confidence and push further forward.

“As well, once we started winning the commitment started spreading and we had a much better core and consistent squad.”

Despite their efforts, Leverton admits that one moment stands out throughout.

He said: ‘The catalyst for the turnaround was beating Ludgvan, who were top, 1-0 at home thanks to Tommy Statton’s 30-yard screamer.

“There was a big crowd that day and that built momentum for the next few games. We picked up seven points from the next three games so that was vital.

“Looking at the table after that, we had identified that we could finish higher than bottom and we looked to try and catch the likes of Wendron and Plymstock and we managed to end up finishing third bottom.”

Looking ahead to the new campaign, Leverton is feeling hopeful.

He said: “I have decided to stay on and Wardy (Chris Ward) has agreed to become my number two.

“He’s played at a good level and is experienced in this league. We’re trying to develop many of the players we’ve got and having his experience will make a big difference on the effort and attitude required to be successful in this league.”

However arguably the most important news for the club is that the second team are making a comeback in the JJ Jones and Sons Duchy League, under the guidance of Ian Adams.

He said: “At the start of last season we had a lack of players in both teams and many of the seconds had to play in the firsts. However the seconds are coming back and that’ll be great for the club. We’ve got a lot of good age-group players, but if there’s no second team it doesn’t provide much opportunity for them in adult football.

“So what’s great about having them back is that there’s now a logical progression, which is what I want.

“We don’t pay players so we need to work with players from the local area and next year there’ll now be an under 16s team, a second team and a first team so there’s that progression, which means that in the long run, more people will stay at Bude and help build the club, although we know that won’t happen overnight.”

Leverton has been busy looking for new players and earlier this week signed experienced midfielder Paul Banks from Holsworthy.

He said: “We’ve brought Paul in which will give us more experience and I’ve also got six or seven players coming to pre-season. We need to try and get them all signed on by the end of the month so you can have a good pre-season and then you don’t have to give the seven days notice to the other clubs.”

Bude’s pre-season schedule is also nearly complete.

A five-aside tournament in aid of local charity Jay’s AIM takes place at Broadclose Park next Saturday before they get their 11-aside preparations started on Saturday, July 14 with a home game against Launceston (3pm) before welcoming Alphington a week later.

They go to Camelford on Friday, July 27 (7.30pm) before welcoming lower league opposition in the shape of Bradworthy and Braunton to Broadclose Park on successive Saturdays before the league opener on August 18 against Dobwalls.