Barum back to winning ways at the right time

After a rotten run of form that threatened to put a serious dent in their promotion ambitions, Barnstaple Town got back on the winning trail with a 2-1 defeat of Saltash United in the Jewson Western League.

When Barum edged past Wellington with a 1-0 victory toward the end of January, automatic promotion still looked like a genuine possibility, but a run of four straight defeats with 12 goals conceded and zero scored understandably left some serious questions to answer.

The response at home to Saltash was just the tonic.

Barum enjoyed the perfect start, Billy Hopcroft opening the scoring on just four minutes, when he pounced on a loose punch from the visiting goalkeeper to smash the ball into a waiting net.

The home side doubled their advantage from the next attack, this time Hopcroft neatly collected an incisive through ball before sliding a confident finish under the Saltash stopper.

Tom Huyton halved the deficit with a back-post header for the Ashes and there were some hairy moments for Barum after the break, including one top save by Jim Weeks with 14 minutes remaining that sealed three massive points.

Barnstaple are fifth in the Western League table with 11 games left to play. Portishead and Clevedon look to be well clear in the top two positions but Barum have a game in hand on Brixham and Buckland, the two sides immediately above them, although they only have a three-point cushion on the chasing pack. Next up is a trip to mid-table Brislington.

Ilfracombe Town remain in serious trouble down the bottom after they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to St Austell. The Bluebirds spurned some excellent chances before the Cornishmen grabbed the lead on the stroke of half-time before pulling clear after the break.

Ilfracombe now sit third from bottom and a yawning gap of ten points on the side above them, Torpoint Athletic, although the Bluebirds do have two games in hand, starting with a trip to Ivybridge Town on Saturday.

Bideford AFC suffered another difficult afternoon in the Southern League, as a 2-1 defeat home to Bashley stretched their winless run to a worrying six games.

The visitors were in rampant mood in the early stages, Kyran Samadi forcing a goal-line block from young defender Charlie Shearer but Bashley would not be denied moments later, Connor Bent snapping up the rebound after his initial effort had been saved by Mike Searle.

The Robins responded positively and went close through Ollie Garnder and Josh Webber before they finally got some reward two minutes after the restart, Javan Wright sweeping the ball into the net after a Finn Roberts cross had caused some chaos.

Unfortunately, Bashley immediately restored their lead, Bent fizzing a low cross into the path of Mitchell Speechley-Price to convert the winner. Bideford now badly need some points to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.

Spare a final thought for the Helston Athletic defence, as they suffered a 9-0 humbling at Bishops Cleeve.