Todays friendly 11/8

Cutlan willo tubbs colborne rewbs pros newman a griff traylor harris davies

1 down 36min

1 down ht

Pross off leahy on start of 2nd half

Wearne m griff howe and welsh on for colborne traylor harris a griff

Badger on for colbourne

Willo back on for leahy

F/t lost 1-0. Good workout though.

F/t lost 1-0. Good workout though.

We didn't play as well this week as we did in Frome but there was enough there to show promise. The wind didn't help and we played against it in the 1st half. Again we had most of the play, playing some good football but again lacking the final, telling ball. For all the pressure we had we just didn't work their keeper enough. It was very much against the run of play when Bideford scored. A poor ball out of defence fell to a Bideford player on the right. He sent in a high cross where their No 9 who was standing unmarked in our penalty area headed it back the way it came, and it was helped by a gust of wind which took it out of Cutlan's reach. From that moment on Bideford had the upper hand.

Playing with the wind in the 2nd half we didn't play as well as we did in the first. Both sides made multiple substitutions which did interrupt the flow, but to a certain extent is the reason for friendlies. Bideford did have a few chances with Cutlan making a couple of good saves and we had a few as well towards the end with their keeper making a good save from Wearn when he was set free in the box. It is possible that the ball crossed the line when Tubbsy got in a header from a corner but the lino was in no position to see and there was the possibility of a foul on their keeper anyway. As it was the ball was cleared and nothing was done.

It was a competitive game poorly refereed. All the squad got a game - except Leekie who was presumably working - and they all contributed. The only knocks we seemed to get was Joe receiving a ball in the nuts and Welshy had a bump on the head which needed a bit of treatment. If you think our Tannoy is poor you should have been there yesterday. You couldn't hear it more than 5 yards away from the stand. I could have won the raffle but never heard the numbers. It wasn't a patch on Govilon's raffle, though. Still, a nice day out and a good run out for the lads. One more friendly and then the serious stuff starts in Swindon Submarine. I can't wait!

All bang on there Phil fair play, I thought it was a poor game all round, we were they only team that wanted to play football, however Bideford were alot more physical than us, and we just could deliver the telling ball in a game of few chances.

We neat (although not fans) the last few friendlies, as the lads will be on a crest of a wave after the past 2 years, but these type of fixtures will show that we are not going to have everything our own way this season

Yes, again another game to show that we face tougher matches than the last two seasons. You can only measure success at the level of the league you are in.
Promotion always means a step up in standards so the coming season will be a challenge and everyone can only do their best!