Billy moves on

Bideford’s win over Swindon Supermarine on Saturday marked a final appearance for Billy Tucker.

The winger is jetting off to Australia for the foreseeable future, making Saturday’s win his last of 142 appearances for the Robins for now.

Over the course of those appearances, the fan favourite has scored 34 goals for the club, 10 of which have come this season.

Bideford manager Sean Joyce said: “It’s a massive loss for us, not just on the pitch but off it too.

“Billy is Billy, he just loves playing football.

“It’s a massive loss but I wish him all the best – it’s a great opportunity for him.

“He’s a local lad who loves playing for Bideford. Hopefully it works out for him but if it doesn’t I’m always here for him.”

Tucker went out on a high, providing two assists in the 5-0 win over Supermarine in Evo-Stik League South West on Saturday.

Sean Downing scored his 100th goal for the club before Ben Seymour struck four times to give the Robins and impressive win and a boost in their push for a play-off spot.

Speaking about the result, Joyce said: “Did I expect to win 5-0? No, but after 25 minutes there was only one team in it.

“The importance of getting that first goal was massive.

“Sean scored a good individual goal and there was no looking back after that.

“To be fair, you could say they made mistakes but we had a game plan and made them make their mistakes.

“When we get it right though we are hard to play against.”

While Seymour’s four goals earned him plaudits, the Bideford manager was also full of praise for his supporting cast.

“Ben is a finisher. He always wants to score goals and that’s a great thing to have.

“Ryan Turner has been selfless this year as well though. Turns has dropped in behind and he’s worked and grafted, and I think if he’d played up there he would have got three or four himself. He’s working really hard.”

In the aftermath of the result, Supermarine announced last night (Tuesday) they had parted ways with manager Dave Webb after five and a half years.

Source North Devon Gazette