Newton Abbot Spurs beaten by the better side

NEWTON Abbot Spurs made the brightest possible start at home to Bridport FC only to then be beaten by the better side on the day.

With less than two minutes on the clock and upon Spurs’ first foray forward, Jacob Osborne was played through into acres of space, remaining calm and slotted through the legs of the oncoming goalkeeper to open his account for the campaign.

The visitors hit back with what Spurs boss Matt Hayden described as a “relentless” response; it was “Wave after wave after wave and the boys just weren’t dealing with it.”

Spurs shot-stopper Jimmy Weeks was out rapidly to close down Callum Arnold and deny him the equaliser.

Fred Parsons, Luke King and Lucas Voss would all then go close as Bridport were firmly in the ascendancy.

In fairness to Hayden’s men, they were just about able to keep them at bay but: “When we did deal with it, we weren’t good enough on the ball to be able to really hurt them like we know we can do.”

The resolve was eventually broken as a missed tackle from Jordan Thomas allowed Arnold to steal in behind and curl beyond Weeks. The centre-back had been rock-solid up until this point but flew right into the challenge and was made to pay.

Bridport continued to look sharp for the remainder of the first half but the game remained at one apiece heading into the break.

In a similar vein, the side from Dorset picked up where they left off and found their go-ahead goal within minutes of the restart, Kieren Daniels poking home.

Hayden turned to his bench shortly after, sending on Sam Hancox and Harry Page to replace Jordan Hogan and goalscorer Osborne.

These alterations didn’t have the desired effect though with Weeks needing to deny Arnold twice more, then springing away to his right to tip a free-kick onto the crossbar.

With time running out, half chances fell the way of the Hancox brothers Sam and Will as well as Jesse Howe but to no avail.

This concerted effort to rescue a point left Spurs vulnerable at the back and Jaden Bond’s looping and dipping own goal perhaps summed up their afternoon, putting the final nail in the coffin.

Speaking after the game, Hayden admitted to being “frustrated” and “gutted.”

He said: “In our last two games we were brilliant, played some really good football and scored some good goals.

“I just don’t know what happened today. We didn’t play the way we like to play, there was a lot of panic on the ball, not a lot of control to what we were doing.”

The Spurs boss praised Bridport as a “good, physical side” whilst, for his group, “There were harsh words in the changing room after full-time but I think it was deserved.”

It isn’t all doom and gloom at The Rec though: “The boys have got my backing, I know full well it’s there, new surroundings and new team. Yes a lot of them have played together but not in this scenario so it just takes that little bit of time and patience, knowing full well that eventually it will come good.”

To this point, it feel as if they’ve been “travelling here, there and everywhere” so with this being the first of five matches in September, all of which will be played on home soil, now is the time to make it “as cliché as it sounds, a fortress, for when teams come here.”

“When we’re at home, we need to dominate every aspect of the game and make sure that it’s not easy for any team that comes here, we need to start doing that in the next few weeks,” concluded Hayden.

They take a break from league action next weekend when they host Sticker AFC in the FA Vase on Saturday, September 12, before then taking on Cullompton Rangers (Sept 19), Holsworthy AFC (Sept 22, St Luke’s Challenge Cup) and Middlezoy Rovers (Sept 26).