The ladies added another win to their first games of 2019 as they travelled away to Feniton on Sunday 13th January 2019. The Devonshire side beat the Bude girls 4-1 in their visit to Broadclose at the start of the season so the Seagulls were determined to give them a good game and look for the 3 points to take home.
With 12 players to their squad, the girls knew that they would need to put in 100% for the duration of the game if they were to come away with the points. Manager Richard Pinkus roused the girls from the start, setting a positive attitude for the game ahead, and it was rewarded. From the kick off, the Bude side dominated the game, stopping any significant pressing chances from Feniton and capitalising on some great passing and play from all areas of the pitch. Wingers Katherine Bryant and Clare Badham worked tirelessly, running onto any through-balls and opening up the channels for central midfielders Kelly Darnley and Courtney Ward to use. Two goals were scored in this fashion with Sarah Badham sending the ball effortlessly past the Feniton keeper to put Bude ahead.
The Bude defence of Lisa Cornish, Steph Smeeth, Assumpta Gifford and Claire Gifford put into practice recent training drills and kept their half out of bounds for Feniton. Their concentration on the game held strong with solid tackles and great communication between them to catch the offside play a number of times. Keeper Jo Timmins stopped any rouge chances from the home side with ease. Badham was then rewarded with her hatrick as Bryant played an excellent first-time ball through to the striker which was expertly finished, sending the Bude girls 3-0 up. The Bude side were playing some great football and it was Badham again who rounded a player out wide and crossed the ball in, deflecting off a Feniton player and nipping past the keeper, leaving the score 4-0 to an elated Bude side. Perhaps too elated, concentration dropped for just a second to allow a Feniton striker to advance on a through-ball and slip it past Timmins. Thus, the score was 4-1 as the referee blew the half-time whistle.
Feniton did not give up, and the 2nd half shown their tenacity as they pushed the Bude side. The conditions were becoming difficult to play in as the clay soil clinging to boots felt like added weight. The rain and wind picked up but Feniton kept testing the Bude side, putting in some rough tackles and beginning to dictate play. A brave Feniton keeper repeatedly came off her line to clear any through-balls up to Charlie Lang as she ran continuously, trying to find a gap in the defence. She was unlucky on a few chances which she just didn’t quite manage to connect with the ball as Feniton defenders would begin to swarm both strikers. Corners were Feniton’s strength and they capitalised on this and some Bude slip ups to bring the score to 4-3.
The final 15 minutes of the game were intense for Bude as they gave their all to stop any Feniton chances creeping in to score the equaliser. Bude wanted the points and whether it was pretty football or just a lot of scrambling, it showed. Keeper Jo Timmins made save after save as the girls in blue on the pitch made every tackle. Fresh legs of Anna Cleave brought some much-needed energy to the pitch, hunting down any loose balls and pressuring the home side. After what felt like an eternity, the final whistle blew with the score being 4-3.
Another 3 points for the girls to take back to Cornwall.