East Devon Cup third round Bickleigh 1 Okehampton Argyle 3 BICKLEIGH got off to a flyer, opening the scoring in the first minute when a poor clearance was played back into the path of their striker to calmly finish. It took Okehampton a long time to come to terms with the early pace that Bickleigh were setting, and James and Tim Williams had to be at their best at the heart of the defence to keep out the Bickleigh attack. On 22 minutes Tim Williams played a good through ball to Phillip Evans, who slipped his marker to run to the edge of the Bickleigh box and fire a cross for Robbie Miller to head home. Bickleigh continued to play determined football and it looked like they played in the premier league and not Okehampton. On 40 minutes James Williams broke out of defence and ran 60 yards to hammer in a cross that Robbie Miller just failed to get on the end of. But Bickleigh were still a threat and had a good chance just before half time when keeper Daniel Malcolm had to palm the ball around the post from a powerful shot on the edge of the box. After some firm words by the Argyle coaches at half time, Okehampton started the second half much better. Switching Chris Wills and Mathew Mortimore around seemed to pay dividends with Mathew pushing on, allowing Chris space to play out of defence. This he did well and on 70 minutes whipped in a great ball to find Robbie Miller on the left side of the Bickleigh area. With a superb piece of control Miller hammered the ball, beating the Bickleigh keeper on his near post. Argyle were now rampant and everyone wanted a slice of the action. Mark Burdus played in Robbie Sandercock and his shot from 30 yards just missed the crossbar. Bickleigh were awarded a free kick just outside the Argyle area, and with the ball heading into the bottom corner Argyle?s keeper Malcolm did well to tip it around the post. Mathew Mortimore had the final say when his cross come shot evaded the keeper and nestled into the net, making the game safe for Okehampton with just a few minutes remaining. Back to league action this Saturday with an away trip to Thorverton.
