Saturday, February 15

Verde Recreo Hockey League

Southern Two

Penzance 3

SECOND-half goals from Jared Slade and Thomas Hall weren’t enough as Bude fell to defeat at the Penzance Leisure Centre.

After battling against Storm Dennis just to make the trip down to West Cornwall, Bude started brightly with a couple of good half chances in the opening exchanges, but Penzance got the first telling blow. After winning successive short corners, they converted with a drag flick from the top of the D.

The game then unravelled for Bude as things went downhill rapidly over the following ten minutes as they seemed to capitulate under the pressure of the youthful and enthusiastic Penzance who took control of the game scoring another two goals in quick succession as Bude’s marking went awry.  

Bude fought hard knowing there was still a lot to play for and with plenty of time left on the clock they stabilised themselves with Paul Floyd leading the way from a defensive midfield position with his astute tackles and assured distribution giving Bude the platform to build off; this created a handful of clearcut chances including a one-on-one opportunity for Kristof Saunders but the advancing keeper was alert and came out to block the shot with a sliding tackle and then a back-post scramble which just evaded Jared Slade’s clutches and outstretched stick.

Despite the lack of goals, Bude never gave up, continuing to pile the pressure on the home side and got what would turn out to be their best chance of the first-half as during a short corner routine, the ball was illegally stopped on the goal-line by the body of the defender which resulted in a penalty flick. After a short debate, Saunders was ushered up to the spot but he was unable to make a clean contact with the ball, resulting in a relatively easy save for the home keeper.

Just as the first-half drew to a close and when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did, as during a defensive short corner, Bude captain Jordan Cunningham was hit at close-range which saw him limp off to miss the rest of the game.

As Storm Dennis gathered momentum into the second-half, so did Bude as they battled the elements, the opponents and the inconsistent umpiring decisions. Pleasingly Bude came out on top as they continued to dominate, and after sheer persistence and dogged determination across the whole team, the North Cornwall side were rewarded as Slade forced the ball home from close range midway through the period.

Bude’s never-say-die attitude gained further rewards and set up a grandstand finish as with a little over ten minutes to go, Saunders took a quick long corner sideways to Thomas Hall who rode his luck on the way into the D from where he took his frustration out by releasing a trademark reverse strike into the corner of the goal.

Time was against Bude as they could not quite complete the comeback they deserved and they were left to rue the fragile defence in the first-half for ten minutes and missed chances on goal.

Man-of-the-match went to Paul Floyd for his faultless display in the middle of park.