CARLSBERG SOUTH WESTERN LEAGUE Tavistock 0 Saltash United 1 (Tuesday) SALTASH moved to the top of the table after this gruelling victory at Langsford Park – but at what cost? Lee Carew was stretchered off a minute from time and manager Tim Halford left Derriford at 2.00 am the following morning with the news that his goalkeeper had broken both his tibula and fibia. 'Although we are pleased to be on top of the League, we are obviously devastated for Lee as he has had a great season and will be out for some months. 'He is a strong character and will come back more determined from this setback,' added Halford, who has had Carew playing for him for the last seven seasons. 'We dominated possession but Tavistock always, through Glynn Hobbs, looked dangerous on the break,' said Halford. Halford was correct in that the Ashes always had the edge, and they were unlucky not to open the scoring two minutes after the break. Carl Pender lifted the ball over Andy Meeds from 35 yards, but the back-pedalling Lambs goalkeeper somehow recovered to turn the ball onto the crossbar before recovering in time to tip the ball off the foot of the on-rushing Marc Thorne. Thorne had the last laugh as he worked himself into space to meet Stuart Clark's cross with a firm header that flew past Meeds from six yards. Tavistock's best chance came two minutes from time when Carew raced off his line to dive bravely at Marc Conday's feet. Carew's alertness was his downfall a minute later as he raced outside his area to clear, only for a late tackle by Conday, who was lucky to receive just a yellow card, left him writhing in pain as he awaited the ambulance. Wadebridge Town 4 Millbrook 1 MILLBROOK'S poor run of form continued as they took their run, without a victory, to nine games and Wadebridge took their unbeaten sequence to four games in the process. Martin Cooke's near-post header left Mark Jones' side facing a narrow first-half deficit, but that soon changed after the break as the Bridgers scored twice. Josh Insley controlled Lee Cameron's pass to fire home before registering his ninth goal in the last four games by robbing goalkeeper Dave Painter to shoot home from a narrow angle. Insley was involved in the home side's fourth goal as he charged down Painter's attempted clearance to leave Nathan Cudmore with a simple tap-in. Millbrook kept going and were rewarded with a 75th-minute consolation as the home side failed to clear a corner, leaving Paul McAdam to fire home from close range. q q q League Challenge Cup Semi-Final Porthleven 1 St Blazey 2 (aet) THE Green and Blacks booked their place in the League Cup's May Day Monday final, but not without an almighty fight against a Porthleven side that kept them on their toes for the whole 120 minutes. In fact, it was Porthleven who took the first-half honours at Penryn and could have gone in at the break leading by two or three goals. Instead, they had to be satisfied with just one after good approach work ended with Shane Richards knocking the ball on for Tom Lamborne to fire past Gary Penhaligon in the Saints' goal. St Blazey hit back early in the second half as wing- back Paul Madden's run down the left flank ended with him cutting inside and unleashing a terrific drive that flew past Port 'keeper Steve Taylor from 15 yards. Although they controlled the second half, Blazey could not gain the lead but, with the first extra period just two minutes old, they took a lead they were never to lose. Adrian Street provided the spadework and it was his cross that found skipper Mark Vercesi unmarked to head home the winning goal from almost on the line. q q q CORNWALL SENIOR CUP SEMI-FINAL Liskeard Ath 1 Perranporth 0 THE Blues booked their place in Easter Monday's Cornwall Senior Cup final after this narrow victory over stubborn opponents at Penryn's Kernick ground. Perranporth, from the Jolly's Combination League, are in only their second season of senior football and can be proud of their effort before finally going down to a 44th minute goal that earned Liskeard a meeting with Truro City at Priory Park, Bodmin. 'In all fairness to them (Perranporth), they had a game plan that succeeded in condensing us and that prevented us from playing our usual passing game,' explained Lee Harvey. 'They also kept us on our toes by playing long balls over our defence, which did not make for a pretty game, but at least the result was the right one. 'It didn't matter if it was 1-0 or 10-0 as it was the result that mattered on the night,' added the Blues' assistant player-manager. Paul Baker had an early chance to give Liskeard the lead, but Perranporth goalkeeper John Mitchell made a fine save to keep out his shot. Perranporth replied and Alex Aquati put in a good header that Blues stopper Simon Zinn did superbly well to keep out. The all-important goal came when Zinn's long kick-off saw Harvey outjump his marker to head the ball into the path of Matt Cusack, who cut in from the left-hand angle of the area to fire across Mitchell and into the net. Perranporth battled hard to restrict Liskeard and the closest the Blues came to adding to their tally came when a good move between Jamie Morrison- Hill, Sam Matthews and Jimmy Alexander resulted in Mitchell making a brave save at Harvey's feet. q q q CARLSBERG SOUTH WESTERN LEAGUE Liskeard Ath 1 Launceston 1 (Saturday) DESPITE this not being one of Liskeard's better days at the office, Blues' boss Allan Evans refused to be completely deflated after the final whistle at Lux Park. 'This is not a disastrous result for us as a point is still a point,' said Evans, referring perhaps to title- rivals Bodmin's defeat at St Blazey. It is difficult to put this latest Liskeard display into context as a bumpy pitch, combined with a frantic pace, obdurate opponents and a disciplinarian set of match officials made it hard for the football to flow. Certainly, Evans cannot complain that his side did not start well as they took only 41 seconds to open the scoring. Launceston defender Steve Oliver's attempted clearance fell conveniently for Paul Baker, who took full advantage to thump the ball home from ten yards. As the half went on, skill levels suffered and players from both sides also began to get frustrated with some of the decisions made by referee Brett Huxtable and his assistants. These frustrations were more often than not met by yellow cards as both sides forgot the basic rule of football – that the men in black are in charge of the game – and became more and more concerned with disputing decisions, rather than trying to overcome their opponents. Launceston had the perfect opportunity to equalise a minute before the break, but Liskeard goalkeeper Simon Zinn produced a fine save from Lee Doncaster's penalty after Aaron Cusack had been adjudged to have handled the ball. Maybe home concentration was subsequently elsewhere as, within moments, former Blues player John James swung over a cross which was met by the head of Jamie Ahearn, putting Launceston level. The second half had not even kicked off when Evans was ordered from the dugout by Huxtable, following a continuation of a conversation that had started at the half-time whistle, thus setting the tone for the second half. Player after player – largely rightly – ended up in Huxtable's notebook for a variety of reasons as the game disintegrated. James might count himself unlucky for receiving a 60th minute red card after his eagerness to get on with the game ended with his foot connecting with Brinton Nute instead of the ball. Evans, one who has been there and seen and done most of it in his football career, was reasonably diplomatic after the game. 'We got involved in the performance of the officials today and didn't concentrate on our own passing game and that was disappointing,' said Evans, who will want to quickly re-focus his team from what was, in truth, not one of their better performances. q q q Saltash Utd 2 St Austell 0 THE top of the table was just one point away from the Ashes after this victory at Kimberley Stadium, which moved them into third place. Forget the quality of this game; it is the win and the accompanying points that are all-important at this time of the season – as Ashes manager Tim Halford was quick to point out. 'Any three points is a good three points at this stage of the season and although it has to be said that we are not firing on all cylinders at the moment, I will happily take the wins as they come,' admitted Halford. At the start of the season, all that was wanted was qualification to next season's Peninsula League Premier Division – and now there is talk of championships, albeit quiet whispers. Halford, while admitting that things are going well at the moment, refuses to be drawn into any false optimism. 'Yes, the situation has changed since the start of the season, when we started off aiming at a top- eight finish and looking towards next season, but now there are one or two people looking for more. 'As far as I am concerned, there's a long way to go yet and my priorities haven't changed at all – qualification is what we want.' Perhaps the heady optimism is affecting one or two at Kimberley, judging by this latest performance against lowly St Austell which, at times, lacked real purpose and control. That said, second-half goals from Mark Chapman and Marc Thorne were still enough to account for a battling Lillywhites outfit and keep the Ashes well on track. Halford, meanwhile, ever the realist, is doing his best to keep as many feet within the club as possible firmly on the ground. 'Maybe some at the club are looking at the League table and thinking that we could be in with a chance of winning the League. 'My message to them is simple – qualification first and once that's out of the way we'll see what else is on offer,' he concluded. St Blazey 1 Bodmin 0 THE Green-and-Blacks kept themselves right in the title mix when they inflicted a first defeat in 13 games on the reigning champions. Pretty it may not have been, but wins over Bodmin never come easy. This was a midfield battle almost from start to finish as befits two battle-hardened teams, packed with experience. Challenges came in thick and fast throughout the game, but never quite enough to tip the match into all-out warfare. The first chance of the game went to the visitors, home goalkeeper Gary Penhaligon doing well to win a one-on-one situation against Craig Swiggs in the third minute. The only, vital, goal came in the 35th minute when Justin Harrington worked his way down the right wing before delivering an incisive pass to Steve Ovens, who fired the ball into the roof of the net from eight yards. Bodmin's attempts to get back in the game were hampered by injuries to defender Sean Flynn and striker Mark Berry. But take nothing away from a St Blazey team which has suffered its own share of injuries this season. This win puts St Blazey level on points at the top of the table with Liskeard, a point ahead of surprise packet Saltash and three points ahead of Bodmin, although the latter do have two games in hand. Callington Town 2 Porthleven 2 A HOME draw may not seem much, but to come from behind twice typifies Callington's season. Town started this game without either of their two normal strikers, Gareth Jones and Danny Zalick, both of whom were unavailable. Manager Geoff Battams has long stressed the need for more striking options at the Ginster's Marshfield Parc, so the arrival of Ryan Elliott, from Plymouth and District side Wessex, recommended by none other than local legendary goalscorer Bradley Swiggs, was opportune to say the least. 'Ryan did well on his debut and will, I'm sure, provide us with competition for places up front once he settles in,' said Battams. Callington found themselves behind, in almost typical fashion for them this season, when Matt Martin appeared to be harshly penalised for handball and Andy Westgarth opened the scoring from the spot. Rather than collapse, Town kept their composure and levelled seven minutes into the second half when Dan Discombe shot home from close range. Despite another potential set-back, when Nigel Thwaites scored, Town deservedly came back again to take a share of the spoils when Jason King headed home in the 84th minute. It says a lot that Battams, rather than bemoaning his luck, was able to deliver some mild criticism of his team. 'I thought we were poor in the first half but much better in the second and maybe even merited all three points in the end,' said the Callington boss. 'Although, at times, we are still our own worst enemy, we now have a spirit within the club and this carried us through today and also bodes well for the future of the club.'