(5-3 on penalties)

SPECTATORS at the Western Counties Roofing Ground were treated to a high-intensity game full of goals last night as Bovey Tracey AFC took on Buckland Athletic.

Both teams are enjoying strong league campaigns in their respective divisions and so this promised to be an enticing affair in the Devon St Luke’s Bowl.

Adding further fuel to the flames were a pair of former Bucks in the Bovey starting XI, Cieran Bridger and Owen Stockton having made the switch in the last couple of months.

There were storylines on and off of the pitch with Bovey pledging a donation from the match ticket and 50/50 ticket pool for Jared Lewington after his ACL injury at the end of August. With 272 people in attendance, a good amount will have been raised from what Buckland manager Matt Cusack described as a “fantastic gesture.”

Onto the game and it was all about corners in the first 15 minutes. Louie Roberts had his head in his hands after nodding just wide of the post for Bovey, only for Buckland to strike from a set-piece moments later at the other end.

The corner fell to fullback Harry Bell who hit it on the turn and Ryan Bush was on hand to deflect it beyond Dom Aplin. First blood to the Bucks.

As seems to be a regular occurrence at this level, the referee had his work cut out for him with calls for Bovey’s Harvey Coggins to be given his marching orders. The defender brought Bush down and whilst Buckland called for a red, the home side labelled it as a dive instead.

A yellow was the decision and with further controversy still to come, this call was soon to become all the more intriguing.

Bovey were on target next and of course it was a familiar face in the form of Bridger who found the back of the net. His effort from range, driven low and hard, took a slight deflection on its way past Jordan Duffey and the midfielder celebrated with a knee-slide perilously close to the Buckland technical area. Make of that what you will.

Shortly after, Scott Pocock fouled Stuart Bowker with the latter subsequently rolling around on the floor, accusing the centre-half of a stamp, but no further punishment arrived.

It was then the turn of the away team to deliver exuberant celebrations, Jack Baxter putting them back ahead from a set-piece. Luke Forward was barged over on the edge of the area and from the resulting free-kick, Baxter beat Aplin. The goalkeeper won’t be keen to see that one again.

The former Teignmouth AFC forward was at it again moments later, looping a bouncing ball in for a 3-1 advantage.

Tensions were rising, Bridger and Lewis Perring being booked in the aftermath of the two Baxter goals, either side of a yellow for Bush.

In a first half that seemed to be never-ending, there was still time for one more major event.

Bowker, who is always a handful for defenders, was brought down by Bell and those in red were quickly baying for a dismissal. Buckland raised questions of offside and a covering defender but this fell on deaf ears and they were down to 10.

On the decision, Cusack said: “If he’s going to dish them out like he did for us, I’ve got no problem with the one for us, I thought he probably was last man, I’m just disappointed that their one earlier wasn’t given as well.”

A rocket of a free-kick from Bridger then forced Duffey into a great save and that was that for the first 45 minutes of football.

At the break, Cusack sent on one youngster for another to address the man disadvantage, defender Igor Piewiszko replacing winger Phil Mendonca who had seemingly picked up a knock anyway.

It didn’t take long for the Moorlanders to cut into Buckland’s lead, Levi Landricombe on hand to convert from Cal Leech’s pinpoint delivery. The task for Cusack’s men from this point was to stem the tide whilst Ben Gerring’s side continued to put their foot down.

Chances came and went at both ends, Baxter, Ruben Kane and Luke Forward all squandering opportunities for the Bucks whilst an attempt at the spectacular from Landricombe didn’t quite come off.

Due to injury issues and “a little bit of illness in the camp” for Buckland, it seems fair to say that Bovey had the stronger bench on the night and this became apparent with the sixth and final goal. Ollie Aplin hadn’t been on the pitch for long when he tucked home from a yard or two out, drawing the sides level.

Baxter wasn’t far away from completing his hat-trick once again, beginning to wheel away in celebration as his latest effort fizzed just wide of the far post. Pocock then couldn’t have been far away with a header and equally, Leech headed onto the woodwork plus a second Bridger free-kick wasn’t far away from finding the top corner.

That being said, a winning goal in normal time evaded both sides and so perhaps a penalty shootout was a fair conclusion to a thrilling fixture, Gerring agreeing that “there wasn’t much between the two teams at all.”

The standard of penalties was supremely high, eight of the nine going in. Someone had to miss though and it was Buckland defender Pocock who saw his effort saved by Aplin, Bridger converting the decisive spot-kick to rub further salt into the wounds.

Looking at the game as a whole, Gerring mused that “For the neutral, it was a great game to watch. Lots of goals, lots of chances for both teams and some excellent strikes.”

Adding, “We’re not going to find ourselves 3-1 down many times this season so we asked the boys a question, can you solve it?

“No matter what, in cup football, you have to find a way to win the game and if that meant by penalties, so be it. I’m proud of the character.”

Cusack meanwhile admitted after the game that “emotions are still raw”, regarding the two red card decisions and a defeat to a local rival.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for him though: “I’m really proud of the lads. Okay, we’ve conceded two goals in the second half but we’ve gone at it for 45 minutes with 10 men and actually, we created better chances second half with 10 men than we did first half with 11, from open play.”

On the shootout, he commented: “Penalties are always a lottery, it can go either way. Unfortunately, Scotty missed on this occasion but he had the guts to step up and take one so there are no qualms from me whatsoever.”

Cusack concluded with: “Congratulations to Bovey and good luck to them in the next round.”

The round of 16 clashes will take place on the first week of November. In the meantime, the pair return to league football on Saturday, Peninsula League leaders Bovey hosting a struggling Okehampton Argyle side and sixth-placed Buckland travelling to 10th-placed Bridgwater United in the Western League.

Photography courtesy of Alan Craig.