THE DREAM of county glory ended for Barnstaple Town with a 3-2 defeat against Loddiswell Athletic in the Firewatch Devon Senior Cup final.

Keith Shapland had predicted his young team would need a clean sheet to overcome strong opponents from the South Devon League.

But conceding three first-half goals at the Devon FA headquarters in Newton Abbot left them with too much to do.

Organised at the back and sharp up front, Loddiswell were worthy winners.

Even when they were down to ten men for the last half an hour, the Torbay team refused to give many chances away.

Any side appearing in a cup final hopes for two vital ingredients: quality and luck.

Unfortunately for Barnstaple, it was their opponents who had them.

The luck came early when a misdirected cross from Alan Maher sailed over goalkeeper Darren Rose, to give Loddiswell the lead.

And the quality came on the stroke of half time when a stunning volley from Myles Chalcraft flew into the top corner to put them 3-1 up.

That concluded a crazy spell of three goals in three minutes when supporters from North Devon were deflated, elated then deflated again.

In the 40th minute, Chalcraft played a clever pass to dissect the defence and Lee Hammett fired past Rose for a 2-0 lead.

The response was instant, Craig Sandle sending over a corner and Ed Yeo powering a header into the bottom corner to pull one back.

But Barum were sleeping from the kick-off and when the ball bounced behind the back four, Chalcraft let fly from the corner of the box.

Things might have been different had Sandle taken an early chance for Town.

A shot from Yeo was spilled by goalkeeper Gary Turner and Sandle dragged the rebound wide.

At that stage, Loddiswell were winning the midfield scrap with Maher and Gary Burman first to the ball.

"I think they came here to bully us and they succeeded in the first half," said Shapland.

Barum were lacking a bit of experience and bite that Shapland himself might have provided had he not been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Starting the second half with more purpose, his team went close when a corner from Josh Pearce was scrambled against the post and away to safety.

But even after Athletic had Burman sent off for two yellow cards, Turner was rarely tested. Burman was booked along with Luke Austen for a spat, but his second caution, for a foul on Kane Dryden, seemed harsh.

The remaining ten players refused to panic as Steve Hatfield and Phil Hatfield calmly dealt with any long balls into the box.

The introduction of Tim Watson helped Barnstaple gain a belated foothold in the midfield.

And Josh Heafield, the 16-year-old flying forward from left back, was one of their best players.

No one was around to apply a finishing touch, though, when Heafield drilled the ball across the face of goal.

Finally, in the 89th minute, Barnstaple grabbed their second goal to set up a tense finish.

Ross Jones hurled over a long throw, the goalkeeper got himself in an Heurelho Gomes-style flap and Watson nodded into the empty net.

There was still time for chances at either end. Chris Smallridge shot wide with only Rose to beat, and Sam Box failed to connect properly when the ball dropped at his feet.

Having come through six rounds to reach the final, Barnstaple can be proud of their cup run. Now they must lift themselves in pursuit of the Fresha Devon and Exeter League first division title.