Devon St Luke's Bowl Report | Bideford 2-0 Argyle

Argyle exited the Devon St Luke’s Challenge Cup at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday night, suffering a 2-0 defeat away from home to Bideford.

Second-half goals from Jamie Hearsey and Scott Robinson within 10 minutes secured a place in the final four of the competition for the North Devon side.

A young Pilgrims line-up battled throughout the 90 minutes but could not create any clear-cut chances in front of goal to test Mike Searle.

The highly defensive affair saw both sides valiantly clear, block, and tackle in their final thirds to stop any forward progress, but the home team ended up victorious following Hearsey’s strike from the edge of the area and Robinson’s tap-in in the six-yard box.

Head Coach Jamie Lowry said: “I am really pleased with how the boys performed on Tuesday night. We had three under-16s in the starting line-up playing against a decent Southern Division One team, so credit to Seb [Campbell], Frankie [Maund] and Toby [Maclean] for all stepping up, competing and physically dealing with it, which was great to see. 

“Theo Roberts came in from the Community programme to support us and he did fantastic, so I'm delighted for him. Overall, the boys did well and dealt with the physicality, which was a challenge at the start of the game.

“We noticed it wasn't going to be a passing game, with the state of the pitch, but with the younger boys stepping up and competing well against a good men's outfit, I am really pleased.”

Argyle: 40 Dan Holman, 2 Toby Haley, 3 Toby Maclean, 4 Harley Sneap, 5 Theo Roberts, 6 Jack Matthews (capt), 7 Cole Fisher (14 Sam Lord, 33), 8 Seb Campbell, 9 Frankie Maund, 10 Kian Burch, 11 Fletcher Poole.