A LATE Bideford goal denied Buckland Athletic a place in the Devon St Luke’s Challenge Cup final as they were beaten in the final four last night (Tuesday).

Josh Webber had put the Western League travellers ahead in the semi-final before putting through his own net shortly after to level things up. Matty Buchan struck the killer blow with two minutes to go.

The Bucks had to travel up to North Devon with a squad of just 12, mainly because of cup-tied players.

Luis Edmondson, JJ Evans and Ollie Aplin had all played for other clubs in earlier rounds of the competition, while Nick Milton Jnr was absent through work.

Interim manager Nick Milton Snr was also forced to miss the tie through illness, leaving senior player Rich Groves to pick up management duties.

The visitors would fashion a chance early on when Harry Ford and Alfie Tucker – both borrowed from Newton Abbot Spurs – combined for the latter to fire wide.

It took until just after the half-hour mark for the breakthrough to come when Ryan Bush was sent through and found Webber, who smartly picked out the corner.

It wasn’t long until Webber was involved again, but this time at the wrong end as he sliced a corner past Andy Collings at the near post to make it 1-1 at the break.

Bideford hit the woodwork early in the second half, but as time ticked away it looked as though penalties would determine the finalists.

But up popped Buchan two minutes from time, who capitalised on Frazer Clark’s slip to send the Southern League South outfit through at the Bucks’ expense.

Having traveled with a makeshift team, stand-in boss Groves took heart in the way his side performed on the night.

‘When Adam [Castle, director of football] phoned me and asked me to step up in Milts’ absence I was more than happy to,’ said Groves. ‘Then I realised how many players we had out and wondered what I’d got myself into!

‘I wanted to get a feel for management and try to make us a bit more organised and hard to beat. Nobody was expecting much from us, so to come away disappointed at a late defeat is a good thing.

‘They [Bideford] only had three real chances of note and two of those were through our own mistakes.

‘With that in mind I told the boys not to be too harsh on themselves. As our confidence starts to grow again those mistakes won’t tend to happen as much.’

Another tough trip awaits Buckland in the Western League on Saturday when they travel to in-form Clevedon Town (3pm).

‘For me, I’m looking for us to get to the end of the season and make sure we don’t drift,’ Groves added.

‘The lads told me they enjoyed playing last night, so it’ll be about us keeping that togetherness through to pre-season where hopefully we will look to build with a similar side.

‘That starts with Clevedon this weekend, where hopefully Milts will be well again and we will have the players back that we missed at Bideford.

‘Clevedon are a good young side – but along with their worldy, we gifted them a couple of goals at our place earlier in the season.

‘The most important thing is that we go up there believing that we can beat them. On our day, I believe we can beat anyone in this league.’