BOVEY Tracey fell foul of a 12-minute turnaround in their 3-1 defeat to Crediton United on Saturday.

Ollie Aplin headed Bovey in front on the brink of half-time but the hosts returned from the break galvanised and, before the hour mark, leapt into a comfortable lead through Shay Corrick, Leon Tootell and Josh Radford.

‘First half I thought we were so good,’ said Bovey boss Tony Radford. ‘But we missed a penalty and we’ve probably missed two or three really good chances and only gone in at 1-0. 

‘I’m almost apprehensive to be positive at half-time because I think, sometimes, it goes to their head a little bit – the amount of times we’re in winning positions and then concede goals straight after half-time. It’s so frustrating. 

‘Crediton have not had to play any football to beat us today, and that’s annoying because that means we’ve gifted what they had off us.’

Aplin’s goal, which came from a spellbinding James Watts-Barciela corner delivery, bumps his tally up to 22 for the Peninsula League campaign. The striker took sole lead of the top-scorer charts but could have had more on Saturday. Just five minutes into proceedings, Aplin saw a penalty saved by Kirton ‘keeper Lee Waring.

‘I can’t be critical of Ollie,’ Radford insisted. ‘He’s the top scorer in the league and he scores goals in the six-yard box – that’s what he does, he just eats them up. 

‘Today he’s missed one or two like that and the penalty. He keeps telling me he’s not a penalty taker but he has taken a couple this season and scored them. It was an off-day but he’s already apologised to me about three times – he’s the first one know that I don’t hold it against him.

‘Any defeat absolutely grips me,’ Radford continued. ‘Today, where we were comfortable and then lost, hurts a lot. 

‘I lost my head a little bit after the game – rightly so because you can’t control a game and just gift things. Plus, on the back of that second half I can pick who I want next game and no-one can really moan!’