SO near and yet so far! How many times this season have Bude pushed their opponents all the way, but fallen at the final hurdle. Sadly, last Saturday was yet another such occasion, leading by four points until the 71st minute against second placed Ivybridge at Cross in Hand, only to concede two converted tries in the final minutes and again to return home empty handed, writes Paul Cottle.

To be fair to the home side, they were missing a number of regulars and the driving drizzle on a "sticky dog" of a pitch probably acted as a bit of a leveller, but Bude again showed great heart and that elusive second league victory was oh so close to becoming a reality.

With the drizzly breeze blowing diagonally across the pitch, the Seasiders played up the slope in the first half and soon came under pressure from some aggressive running by the confident home side. However, Bude's defensive organisation was looking sound and all Ivybridge had to show for their early endeavours was a 9th minute penalty goal by fly half Dave Lawson, after an offside offence at the breakdown. Back came the home side intent on increasing their lead and when the visitors again refused to wilt, Lawson slotted a drop goal in the 21st minute to increase his side's lead to 6 points.

Sparked by their excellent defensive performance, with young second row Mark Parsons and flanker Lee Weston outstanding, Bude began to press forward searching for an opening. Half backs Steve Yates and Ollie Rayner probed and prodded and centres Andy Yates and Paul Williams ran hard, putting the Ivybridge midfield on the back foot.

Shortly before the break, Bude finally gained some reward when Rayner was high tackled and he slotted the resulting penalty to reduce the deficit to three points at the interval.

With the slope now in their favour and the rain easing, perhaps this was Bude's chance. However, clearly there had been some stern words spoken by the Ivybridge coaches at the break, and the home side came out with renewed vigour. Despite feeling the pressure, still Bude's defence held firm and on 55 minutes they took a surprise lead, much again the run of play. As Ivybridge attacked in the visitors' 22, a long loose pass was thrown, searching for their left wing Sam Bristowe, but only found the grateful arms of Bude's right wing Olly Denford who raced away, with chastened defenders in hot pursuit and touched down 80 metres later, for an unlikely, but well deserved try. Rayner converted superbly from wide out and the visitors were in front for the first time.

Ivybridge came back strongly and just after the hour mark, fly half Lawson carved out a guilt edged chance for his inside centre Matt Tichias, with a delightfully weighted chip past the oncoming Bude defensive line, only for Tichias to spill the ball with the try line at his mercy. Perhaps, this was going to be Bude's day after all. The home supporters started to get on their side's backs and with the Seasiders showing real grit, the unlikely was starting to seem possible.

However, as the game moved into the final ten minutes, Ivybridge weren't throwing in the towel yet. A line out on Bude's five metre line saw the home side drive for the visitors' try line. The first attack was repelled, but hooker Nathan Webster showed good strength and body positioning to squeeze over a metre in from touch. Lawson converted expertly to take his side three points clear. The game still hung in the balance as full back Matt Trewin's hard running from deep caused a few problems for the home side.

Then two minutes from time, Ivybridge finally made the game safe as powerful right wing Liam Kimber finished off an excellent three quarter move by running in under the posts, following a well worked line out move ten metres from the Bude line. Lawson added the extras to increase the lead to ten points and although the Seasiders made one final effort with the Yates brother in the vanguard, it was to no avail and Ivybridge claimed the points to consolidate their position in the play-off spot, some distance behind champions in waiting and promotion certainties Cullompton.

This Saturday, Bude entertain fellow strugglers Camborne, whose confidence will no doubt be boosted by their 55-0 thrashing of third placed Kingsbridge. With their Skinners Brewery Cornwall Knockout Cup semi-final tie scheduled for the following Saturday, there is still much to play for, even if relegation is off the menu as a result of the RFU's reorganisation of the leagues.

Scorers — Ivybridge: Nathan Webster, Liam Kimber (Tries), Dave Lawson (2 Conversions, Penalty goal and a Drop goal). Bude: Olly Denford (Try), Ollie Rayner (Conversion and a Penalty goal).

Bude: Matt Trewin (Ollie Mounce), Olly Denford, Paul Williams, Andy Yates, Martin Green, Ollie Rayner, Steve Yates, Thabo Mitchell, Barry Lucas, Barry Sobey (capt), Will Kingdon, Mark Parsons (John Hiscock), Lee Weston, John Richards and Matt Williams.

Referee: Mr Marc Simon (Exeter – Devon RRS).