Match Preview

On Bank Holiday Monday Bideford and Barnstaple Town will lock horns in the league for the first time in over six years.

The North Devon Derby is back. Bideford will take on Barnstaple Town in the league for the first time since 2010 and the first competitive meeting since 2014. A big crowd is expected at the Sports Ground on Monday afternoon as the derby will be contested at the highest league level in history.

The North Devon rivals had had mixed fortunes in recent years. In 2009/10 Bideford won their tenth Western League title and made their return to the Southern League. In 2011/12 they became champions of the Southern League Division One South & West and spent four years in the Premier Division before being relegated back to Division One last season. Barnstaple were relegated from the Western League Premier Division but bounced back by winning the Division One title in 2014/15 and in 2015/16 were promoted to the Southern League for the first time in their history after they finished runners-up in the Western Premier.

The last league meeting between the sides was in April 2010 at Mill Road which struggling Barnstaple won 3-2 although Bideford still went on to win the league that season. The last league meeting at the Sports Ground was a 4-3 win for Bideford on Boxing Day 2009 with Kevin Squire scoring a last minute winner for The Robins. Since those league meetings the only other competitive contest was a 1-0 win for Bideford at Mill Road in November 2014. Ben Watson scored the only goal to send Bideford through to the semi finals of the Devon St Luke’s Bowl. Bideford have also beaten Barnstaple in multiple friendlies over the last few years.

Barnstaple have had a decent start to life in the Southern League. They have scored big wins over Taunton Town and Paulton Rovers, drawn with Yate Town but also lost to Swindon Supermarine and title favourites Hereford. Bideford’s start has been a mixed bag. Starting with defeats to Mangotsfield United and Tiverton Town they bounced back with wins over Wantage Town and Bridgwater Town. After making hard work of getting past Bodmin Town in the FA Cup including an unwanted replay on Wednesday night, they were disappointing in a 2-0 loss at Evesham United yesterday.

The derby will see a return to the Sports Ground for former Bideford goalkeeper Steve Oliver since leaving in July 2015 but he won’t be the only player on show to have represented both clubs. Kevin Squire spent three years at Barnstaple before joining Bideford in 2009. Aaron Harper-Penman was part of the Bideford side that won the Southern League Division One S&W title in 2012 before moving to Barnstaple and taking the captain’s armband. Aaron’s brother Jed has also represented both North Devon rivals as has Tom Moody and Billy Tucker who was a key player for Barnstaple before deciding to move to Bideford in January 2015.

Form
Bideford’s last six: LWWDWL
Barnstaple Town’s last six: DWLWWL

Barnstaple Town
Website: http://www.barnstapletownfc.com
Twitter: @Official_BTFC