BUDE player/coach Angus Hodges admits ‘it was a bit of a surprise’ after their Tribute Cornwall and Devon League clash at Topsham on Saturday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The league leaders were scheduled to travel to the Exeter-based club looking to maintain their lead at the top.

However the clubs have already rescheduled the game for tomorrow (December 22) and if Bude win handsomely, will go into the Christmas break with a five-point lead following Penryn’s 10-10 draw at South Molton, which means they are both on 57 points.

Talking about the postponement, Hodges said: “We found out in the morning before we left at about 9.30am. It was a bit of a shock as we’d only had a bit of rain. It hadn’t been long-term but I’ve never been there there so I don’t know what it’s like. But I was a bit surprised.”

Hodges believes that having just a two-week gap instead of three could prove to be handy.

He said: “Having one less week off in a row could work in our favour. If we played on Saturday we wouldn’t have trained this week or played this weekend so it would have been quite a long period of time without any rugby coming back to Torquay at home, which will be a massive game for us. This could work in our favour so we’ve got to be on our best form possible.”

Hodges is hoping that despite the late arrangement and the face the match is taking three days before Christmas, he’ll have a near-full squad to choose from.

He said: “There’ll be a couple players out such as Steve Yates and Ed Hilliam-Cooke but that’s about it. They’ll probably be under similar pressures so it shouldn’t be a problem and we’ve got enough depth anyway.”

With 12 wins and a defeat to their name so far, Bude are flying high.

Hodges said: “In pre-season we had a lot of good hopes and expectations heading into the first-half of the season.

“For one reason or another we didn’t start as we’d like. We had a reality check and we weren’t really where we needed to be performance wise.

“We realised we had a lot of work to do and since Torquay (their only defeat so far) we’ve taken them forward.

“We’ve put in some cracking performances which are the best I have seen since I’ve been at Bude and we’ve also been able to grind out some wins when we didn’t play that well which indicates a good, winning side.

“At the moment I couldn’t be much happier but there’s plenty of work still to do. We’ve got to keep riding that wave we’re on at the moment.

“We’ve also got a couple of injuries to come back in in Ed Aldridge and Tully Innes and we’ve got some youngsters in Will Pharo, who’s come back from Bideford and Brad Thomas and Aaron Gilroy. Hopefully we can build a really deep squad and it’s exciting to see where that can take us.”

When asked whether he expected to be top at Christmas, he admitted he didn’t, but believes it’s a reward for their efforts.

He said: No, not really, especially with how we started but it’s a real good indicator as to how we’ve progressed both as a team and individually. It’s thoroughly deserving for the amount of effort the boys have been putting in in the first half of the season.”

Hodges admits they’re now looking to stay up there.

He said: “There are a few key matches we’ve got to target. Torquay at home and Honiton and Penryn away. If we continue to progress with the depth of the squad and we do that then there’s no reason why we can’t stay on top.”

Although Hodges has notched 17 league tries from either flanker or centre, he had special praise for some of his squad.

He said: “Finley Fry has had a lot of good games and really stamped his mark on the team while our two wingers Rory (Hodges) and Jack (Horwell) have progressed.

“Steve Yates has come in at ten and been a real leader for the backs and having Charlie Watton at 12 and Kieran Sharp who’s been a real good asset, has helped us expand our game really and take us on to the next level.”

If Bude can win at Topsham tomorrow then they’ll be that one step closer to a return to Western Counties rugby.

See the January 3 edition of the Post to find out how they get on.