Mousehole’s nine match unbeaten run on the road came to a disappointing end in Devon on a wet and dreary Saturday afternoon. Having won the last away game at table toppers Portishead this result comes not just as a surprise but as something of a wake-up call. 

The seagulls started the match the way they had ended the game against the Posset*. They were dominant in every area of the pitch and could’ve been three nil up after fifteen minutes. That they only managed one goal during this period lead ultimately to the defeat. (*Portishead nickname – who knows?) 

Mousehole took the lead thanks to some great work from Alex Cairo. He wriggled into the box and following three or four or maybe five step overs he was taken down by a flummoxed defender. When not a single Bideford player argued with the referee as he pointed to the spot it was clear Cairo had been cut down illegally. Liam Prynn walked to the spot with the ball in his hands but it was Hayden “The Hitman” Turner who actually took the kick. The keeper went the right way but the shot was precision itself; smashed into the inside netting. 

What happened next defied expectation and came as a shock to players, management and fans alike. One nil up away from home and it felt like normal service until a long through ball down the left was allowed to reach the Bideford centre forward, he sprinted past James Ward and rolled it between the stranded Ollie Chenoweth’s legs. 

Scores level after fifteen minutes and it was anyone’s game until, that is, a disastrous kick-off. A long pass back to Olly, where he was left unprotected against an onrushing forward meant that his kick was rushed and was blocked by the advancing forward. The knock down fell kindly and so the the forward had an empty net in which to double his and Bideford’s tally. 

The stuffing, no Christmas pun intended, had been well and truly knocked out of the travelling Mousehole players. That they got to half-time only one goal down was a blessing. The question was could they turn the game around in the way they had away at Portishead. The answer sadly was no and it arrived very soon. Early in the second-half another straight through-ball found the Bideford forward in splendid isolation once more. And once more Olly was left unprotected and could only flail as he was nut-megged once more. 

A triple substitution brought some extra energy but it was only as the ninety minutes approached that Mousehole managed some attempts on goal. They pulled one back thanks to Prynn knocking in from a Turner cross. Bideford managed to play out eight added minutes with intelligent game management and the game was lost.