BRIDGWATER & Albion gave a good account of themselves at Bideford on Saturday and, despite fielding a side that was missing 12 first team regulars, they were only beaten in the last 10 minutes (35-22), writes Richard Walsh.

Head coach Simon Morrell was far from disappointed, saying: “We can’t be too despondent because we knew when we went to Bideford we couldn’t afford to lose any more of our seniors because we were really stretched.

“To then lose our captain [Ollie Dunn] within a few seconds of the kick-off, and Stuart Heal in the second half, took it from a game we could dig deep and get a result from to one where we had to look at our extended squad and look at it as an opportunity.

“For 60 minutes we were very competitive but then we lost Stuart Heal when we were four points up and playing with the wind behind us.

“If he had stayed on I’m sure we would have come away with something, but to lose him was key.

“Bideford are a pretty strong side, so to go there with the side we did, which included five debutants and then to lose two of our senior players, which meant a number of the team ended playing out of position, we were pretty competitive.

“It would have been easy for the team to roll over but they didn’t.

“The boys kept on fighting until the end and what was lacking eventually was a little bit more experience.

“All in all we have got to take it on the chin, pick the positives out and move on.

“We have invested a lot of time on our play from open field and this continued at Bideford, which was very pleasing.

“We scored three classic tries in three phases from an open field situation, which bodes well.”

This weekend the Albion host Thornbury at College Way (3pm kick-off).

Morrell added: “I am expecting to be able to field a much stronger side on Saturday, and we may be able to include another couple of new signings.

“Our new scrum-half, Adam Coneybeare, who has joined us from Taunton, will really add something to our side.”