ISAAC McCue had been a Buckland Athletic player for all of a few days when he converted the decisive penalty in their FA Vase second round clash.

The young midfielder, who Buckland brought in from Exmouth Town, excelled on debut. He played the full 90 minutes, contributed an assist and scored both of his spot-kicks in an overwhelmingly dramatic shootout.

His arrival in Newton Abbot follows the departure of Sean Thomson, who left Buckland to reunite with former manager Wayne Gamble at Liskeard Athletic in the SW Peninsula League.

Bucks manager Matt Cusack commented that, once Thomson’s exit was confirmed, “We needed to go out and recruit a midfielder, a midfielder like Thommo who is a technician and Isaac fits that bill.”

His new gaffer was full of praise for McCue after his debut: “I thought he was outstanding. He drifted wide, he found pockets and he was everything that was good about our attacking play.

“He got his assist for the second goal, a great through ball for Bushy (Ryan Bush) and he dispatched two penalties in the shootout as well, which was great.”

McCue made 12 Southern League appearances for Exmouth in 2025/26, 10 of which came from the bench.

The two starts were in wins over Bristol Manor Farm and Didcot Town, whilst he scored his only goal of the campaign on the first day of the season, in a 4-2 defeat away at Swindon Supermarine.

His final bow as an Exmouth man was on November 1, coming on in a 1-1 draw at Bashley.

Talking of Exmouth and when they took to social media to announce the departure, they had this to say: “All the best to Isaac McCue, who has left the club to join Buckland Athletic. Thank you for your contributions, and good luck for the future.”

This lack of regular gametime likely played a significant role in McCue’s switch to Homers Heath, Cusack eluding to exactly this, he “probably hasn’t had the gametime that he would have wanted in terms of his own development but he’s certainly going to get that here.”

He continued, “I’ve known Isaac over the last couple of years and with that, you’ve got to think, do lads want to drop a level because that’s what we’re asking him to do, for more game-time.

“It’s a big decision for him, all we can do is show our interest and identify targets and then if he didn’t want to come, then we’d look elsewhere but as soon as we showed interest, he was keen.

“I think he knows one or two of our boys from the past, which always helps. He’s going to feel at home here, which is great.”

As well as losing Thomson to Liskeard, midfield duo Cieran Bridger and Owen Stockton both left for Bovey Tracey AFC, plus Ruben Kane and Sammy Stayt are sidelined with long-term injuries.

This has really stretched the resources in the middle of the park for Cusack with further reinforcements required to partner the likes of captain Ben Carter, Cam Sangster and Jack Baxter.

McCue is one such player, along with Jamie Simmonds, Jordan Copp and Coby White, who all recently arrived at the club as well, signing on from Ivybridge Town, Willand Rovers and Newton Abbot Spurs respectively.

The management team have acted quickly to react to departures and other setbacks so now, “For the second half of the season, we want to go and attack it, that’s going to be important for us, one game at a time.”

Buckland supporters can certainly expect many great moments to come from McCue in that yellow shirt as the 2025/26 season rolls on.