East Devon Senior Cup 2nd round

Okehampton Argyle 3

Budleigh Salterton 0

SENIOR I side Budleigh gave Argyle a tough time in the first half of this cup tie. But whenever danger threatened veteran goalkeeper Neil Clift showed his experience by commanding his area and dealing with any problems efficiently.

Although the first half was goalless, there was still plenty of action at both ends.

Argyle created the better chances with Robbie Sandercock forcing a fingertip save from the Budleigh keeper in the third minute, closely followed by near efforts from Steve Williams and Steve Kinsey.

Towards the end of the half Budleigh did put on more pressure, but found Argyle?s defenders Mike Vernon, Chris Wills and James Williams in fine form.

They were ably supported by some tireless work in midfield by Phil Evans and Mark Burdus, who covered nearly every inch of the pitch.

It did not take Argyle long to pierce the Budleigh defence in the second half, Steve Williams providing a pass for Burdus to find the corner of the net in the 48th minute.

Although Argyle now enjoyed the lion?s share of the play, it was not until 12 minutes from time that they managed to score again.

This time it was a clever lob from Steve Williams, who caught the keeper off his line to put the home side two up.

An indirect free kick in the penalty area provided Argyle with their third goal (awarded for unnecessary swearing by a defender). Rob Clark?s cross was blocked by the keeper only for Nick Drew to snap up the rebound and send a low shot into the corner of the net.

The final whistle sounded seconds after the restart, and now puts Argyle into the hat for the third round draw.

This week Argyle are at home to Thorverton in a bottom of the table league clash, kick off 2.30pm.