Brilliant Buckland storm back to victory

When it came to pure and raw football entertainment on Saturday, Homers Heath was the place to be, as Buckland Athletic staged a thrilling comeback in the Toolstation Western League.

Welcoming third-place Bridgwater United and their noisy band of supporters, the Bucks stuttered in the early stages and fell behind to an opening goal from Jack Taylor on 28 minutes. The away fans soon had a second to cheer, Jake Llewellyn scoring direct from a free-kick that deceived the Bucks defence.

Whatever Buckland boss Dan Hart said at the break, it clearly worked, as defender Myles James immediately pulled one back with his first goal for the club, heading home a delicious in-swinging free-kick from Sam Morcom.

Momentum was suddenly with the boys in Yellow and a weaving run from Teigan Rosenquest created the room for Jared Lewington to steer a neat finish back across the Bridgy goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.

Buckland grabbed the lead 17 minutes from time, and it came from another Morcom set-piece, this time whipped into the near post for Josh Grant to flick-on and James, clearly now with a taste for goals, slotted home from close range.

Victory was completed by a lovely team goal, starting with captain Rob Farkins surging forward to feed the ball wide to Ben Carter, who slipped a pass into the left channel for Lewington to draw out the visiting custodian before squaring to Grant for a tap-in.

Bridgwater did grab a late consolation but this was Buckland’s day and, following the midweek cup trip to Helston, the Bucks play their next three games on the road, at Street, Wellington and Falmouth.

Sadly for Brixham, they were unable to match the success of their Western League neighbours, as two second-half goals condemned the Fishermen to a 2-0 defeat at Falmouth Town.

Brixham have slipped to eighth in the division, while Buckland remain fifth, although a long way behind leaders Helston, who have a four-point cushion on Clevedon Town. Barnstaple Town are another Devon club lingering in fifth and they have games in hand to mount a late title push.