BUDE player/coach Angus Hodges wants his side to make sure they finish in the top five of the Tribute Cornwall/Devon League as they prepare to return to league action on Saturday with a visit from mid-table Lanner (2.30pm).

The Bencoolen Meadow outfit enjoyed a superb 2018/19 campaign, losing just three times on the way to a third-placed finish. They lost just once at home all season but were pipped to the two promotion spots by Penryn and Honiton, who have more than held their own in the Western Counties (West).

Bude on the other hand have, at times, struggled with player availability and injuries. Ahead of their first fixture of 2020, although they have games in-hand on the sides above them, they sit seventh with seven wins and five defeats from their 12 games.

By the time they take to the field against Lanner at Bencoolen Meadow on Saturday, it’ll have been three weeks since they last played a competitive fixture, a narrow defeat at promotion-chasing Truro.

Their fixture at second bottom Exeter Athletic on December 21, was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, although they did get their boots on on Boxing Day.

Hodges (pictured right) said: “We played the traditional Boxing Day match at the club, which is the firsts against a seconds/presidents team, and that’s always great fun and a good club social.

“But with the Exeter game being cancelled and with it being Christmas, we didn’t train last week, so we’ve had a bit of a break.

“We’ve had a lot of time off in the first half of the season due to postponements and byes so I’d like to say the boys will be really eager to get back into it and be raring to go, as opposed to previous seasons when we’ve been looking forward to a well-earned break.”

Hodges will just have one session (tonight) before Lanner visit.

He said: “We’ll be doing a lot of live play games and making sure we’re getting a sweat on to stimulate the brain. We’ll run through a bit of structure but mainly in-game scenarios.”

Lanner inflicted one of Bude’s four defeats on their travels, and Hodges hopes it’ll be the Cornish side who’ll make the long trip down to West Cornwall without any reward.

He said: “Our first loss of the season (26-19) was against Lanner, so I’d like to think we’ll have the fire in our bellies to put right what went wrong down there and put a bit of a performance on.

“I know that they’ve had to concede a few of their recent games due to a lack of numbers, but hopefully that won’t affect our game. We’ll be looking to come away with nothing less than a win.”

Hodges expects that a full-strength Lanner will be a tough nut to crack.

He said: “They’re pretty aggressive and good up front. Down there our pack struggled against them, which doesn’t happen very often, so it’s definitely an area we’ll be looking to improve on this time around. But when we played down there, the couple of times we managed to use our backs we looked a threat, so we need to make sure we do that again and make sure we don’t get bullied up front.”

Bude are currently eight points off third-placed Plymstock Albion Oaks with a game in-hand, and four points off North Tawton in fifth.

Hodges said: “We’re looking for anywhere between third and fifth really. After the first half of the season, which has been very flakey here and there, that would be a very positive outcome for us.

“Hopefully we can have a bit more of a consistent squad as we’ve had a massive turnaround of players in the last couple of months which limits the progression we can make, especially as certain players can’t train, when it comes to refining moves or introducing anything new.

“However the good thing is that we’ve managed to bring on a handful of younger, less experienced players. It’s always good if we can give them game time and experience as it increases our depth.”

One man Bude supporters are unlikely to see again in a hurry is New Zealander Callum Bettington, who has moved up country for work.

Hodges said: “Callum has now left us unfortunately, which is a shame as he was a real positive for us. However we’re hoping to have Kieran Sharpe back for a couple of weeks, which is a straight swap.”