Budleigh Salterton Under-16s were involved in a thrilling Exeter and District Youth League game at Tiverton side Twyford Spartans, winning the contest by the odd goal in nine, writes SpursTom.
The game started at a lively pace, and Budleigh really ought to have got their noses in front early on, but they squandered a terrific scoring opportunity and were promptly made to pay for their miss when Ben Bingham muscled his way into the area to fire the home side ahead.
The lead lasted just three minutes as Ryan Daffin restored parity to the contest. The action was end-to-end and both goalkeepers, Pacey Mulholland for the home side and Will Cooper, acting as a stand-in glovesman for the young Robins, made fine saves. Moments before the interval, Daffin used his strength in a solo run to score the game’s third goal and send Budleigh into the break with a 2-1 lead.
In the opening exchanges of the first half, Cooper made another fine save, but he could do nothing to prevent Bingham scoring his second to level things up.
A minute later, Will White converted a pass from Daffin to restore the Budleigh lead, but a minute after that it was all square once more as Josh Bradley netted for the home side!
A second from Bradley saw Budleigh slip behind for the first time, but, in a see-saw game, Daffin completed his hat-trick to make it 4-4. Just as it seemed as if the game was destined to finish with honours even, up popped Ryan Fell in the dying moments with a cross-cum-shot that sailed over the keeper and into the net to seal a wonderful win for the young Robins.
As for the stand-out contributor in a Budleigh shirt, that would have to be Josh Bunn, who was brilliant in midfield.
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