Remarkable run for Robins steers club away from the relegation zone

Rewind a few weeks and Bideford AFC were in serious trouble and relegation from the Southern League looked to be a bleak possibility.

The Robins have responded in spectacular fashion from that position of peril, completing four successive victories with a 1-0 triumph over Exmouth Town on Easter Monday.

In front of a crowd of 300 at The Sports Ground, both sides had to contend with the windy conditions, Shaun Semmens making a decent save for the hosts in the opening ten minutes before Finn Roberts gave an indication of what was to come with a whipped cross that was nodded over by Sam Wright.

Semmens then made an excellent save to thwart Aaron Denny and Louie Slough denied the same man with a terrific last-ditch tackle. Over to Roberts, who broke the deadlock with a sensational 40-yard strike on the stroke of half-time.

The Robins survived a massive scare just before the hour, as visiting forward Tom Bath picked up on a loose backpass but Semmens narrowed the angle and the Exmouth man fluffed his lines.

Bideford then had to regroup after Harvey Field was dismissed for a second yellow on 74 minutes and it was backs-to-the-wall stuff, but the Robins held on for a win that moves them ten points clear of the drop zone.

Tavistock are already down and Bashley look likely to join them, as they are six points adrift, but the final two places is going to be a fight between four clubs. Brixham and Melksham Town occupy the unwanted slots at the moment but they are only a point behind Willand Rovers and Falmouth Town.

Brixham came within seconds of pulling out of the bottom four but conceded a last-gasp leveller to Willand in South Devon.