TORQUAY UNITED old boys Ellis Laight and Clay Bond struck against their former club as Bideford booked a place in the semi-finals of the Westinsure Devon St Luke's Cup.

The Robins played with pace and purpose, clinching a 2-1 win over the Coca-Cola League Two side at the Sports Ground on Tuesday night.

Bond fired a 90th-minute winner from the edge of the area to give his former employers a timely reminder of what they were missing.

Latching on to a long throw from Ben Wood, his low shot flew past Michael Searle and was a fitting way to cap an energetic midfield display.

Bideford boss Sean Joyce, himself an ex-Gulls midfielder, said: "Bondy had to wait for it to come down and as soon as he scored he ran away shouting 'technique'.

"He said to me 'some players have got it and some players haven't!'"

Given Bideford's current fixture congestion, Joyce was delighted the winner spared his team a further 30 minutes of extra-time.

For a team churning out two games a week in pursuit of the Toolstation League title, Biddy looked surprisingly fresh against a side boasting seven players with first-team experience.

One of those, Mustapha Carayol, quickly made his mark, seizing on a back header from Dominic Rivans and beating onrushing goalkeeper Grant Fisher to score a 12th-minute opener. Fisher, like Bond another former Torquay trainee, has played for Taunton Town in recent weeks and was making his debut as Ryan Draper rested a groin injury.

While the home line-up was sprinkled with former Torquay players it was strange to see a current Bideford player representing the opposition.

Ashley Yeoman, back with his parent club for the night, was denied at close-range by Fisher before Laight levelled on 20 minutes as Matt Andrew shrugged off a challenge to set him up.

Chances were scarce after that but Ben Wood should have clinched it moments before Bond did.

Relishing his role up front, the diminutive Wood headed wide after Laight glanced on a free-kick from Darren Hawkings.

"We controlled the game, we played some nice stuff and I thought we deserved it," said Joyce.

"After they scored I thought we bossed the game. It's rare you do that against a team with the quality they had tonight. In the Western League it's crash, bang, wallop and you've got to fight and scrap for everything. The pros give you time and space to play."

Bideford are 12 points clear at the top of the Toolstation Premier Division after Saturday's 2-1 win over Sherborne Town.