SWPL PREMIER WEST (SATURDAY)

Penzance 2 Bude Town 0

LATE goals from Charlie Young and Lewis Caspall condemned a battling Bude Town side to a 2-0 defeat at fourth-placed Penzance on Saturday.

The Magpies came flying out of the blocks, forcing Bude’s Ty Rowe into two excellent saves inside the opening three minutes, before a last-ditch block denied Charlie Young.

Bude had a huge chance just after the half-hour when right-back Archie Perrott failed to make contact with a Harrison Swatton free-kick from five yards, but just before the break at the other end, Chris Wormington’s header was dramatically cleared off the line.

Penzance kept pushing after the break as after Charlie Willis sent a shot just wide, Smith looked certain to score in the 53rd minute, only for a Bude defender to scramble his effort off the line.

After Bude’s Maximus Alvarez-Lopera made a fine run which ended with a slightly disappointing shot, Silas Sullivan headed over with 20 minutes to go.

The Magpies eventually broke through when the referee pointed to the spot in the 82nd minute when Willis was brought down. Young took responsibility, sending Rowe the wrong way.

Bude pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but were undone when Caspall combined brilliantly with Young in a slick one-two before finishing past Rowe.

Reflecting on the afternoon, Bude boss Steve Hackett said: “We were disappointed to come away without a point after defending so brilliantly.

“Penzance did deserve to win but we feel a little hard done by with how they broke the deadlock as Aled (Thomas) was adjudged to have brought their player down in the box and he tells me he didn’t touch him and the Veo backs it up.

“After that we put James Wheeler further forward for his height and presence, but it left us light at the back and they got a second in injury time.”

He continued: “But going there is difficult as they’re a strong, hard-working side who know how to play their pitch.

“Penzance were experienced and athletic, they were quick into tackles and headers and quick into winning the second ball. They handled us really well and didn’t give us an inch to get the ball down and play.

“We weathered an onslaught in the first 10 minutes where we were lucky to not concede but as we settled, we played some neat football but just couldn’t penetrate them.”

Hackett also praised goalkeeper Ty Rowe amongst others.

He said: “Ty Rowe was magnificent, he made three or four excellent saves and his distribution and ability to slow the game down was first class.

“Ewan Reeves, Finn Haste, Archie Perrott and James Wheeler battled hard and defended valiantly; our game was probably lost in the midfield with the physicality of our opponents. But we can come away feeling proud to have given them a tough game and made it difficult for them to break us down.

“The energy and work rate part of our game is there in abundance, but the experience side of the game only comes from playing matches.”

BUDE TOWN: Ty Rowe; Alfie Perrott, James Wheeler, Ewan Reeves (capt), Fin Haste; Aled Thomas, Harrison Swatton, Jake Woodland; Aaron Hart, Maximus Alvazrez-Lopera, Ryan Vanstone. Subs: Connor Jenkins, Jamie Gorst, Jago Tweitman, Ryan Leverton, Steve Hackett.

Bude Town man-of-the-match: Ty Rowe.