CARLSBERG SOUTH WESTERN LEAGUE Saltash 2 Torpoint 1 TIM Halford's Ashes opened up a five-point lead at the top of the League, but they had a fair share of luck before disposing of a stubborn Torpoint side at Kimberley Stadium. One could have sympathy with Torpoint assistant manager Gary Tiffany after the game when he said: 'To say we are disappointed would be an under- statement. 'There's a great saying in football that, over the course of a season, luck evens itself out, but we just do not appear to be getting the rub of the green whatsoever.' Halford admitted his side were not at their best but, in Saltash's position, the result is probably the most important thing. 'It was not a very good game and was not helped by a blustery wind and a bumpy pitch. 'Credit must go to Torpoint, who stuck to their game plan, working us hard and even when they went down to ten men they continued to frustrate us,' said Halford. The turning point came on 65 minutes when the Ashes management decided to make changes. 'When we went a goal down we decided to change it and become more attack-minded, which shows the value of a big, quality squad, with Mike Norman coming off the bench and hitting our equaliser,' explained the Ashes boss. The first half was a scrappy affair, with just one scoring opportunity of note, occurring in the 26th minute when Danny Lewis squared the ball to Gavin Coulton, who let fly with a powerful drive from 20 yards that flew just over the bar. In first-half stoppage-time, Torpoint skipper Darren Edwards was red-carded for allegedly throwing a punch at Tony Bouch. The interval did not improve matters and the larger than normal crowd at Kimberley must have been asking the question: 'How were Saltash top of the League?' The ten men of Torpoint shook the home supporters by taking the lead in the 63rd minute. A 60-yard diagonal pass from Stuart Berry found Gary Williams just inside the box, and he cracked the ball over goalkeeper Mike Roberts for a fine finish. Ashes responded, however, Daley Simpson heading the ball back into the path of Mark Chapman, but his first-time effort flew just wide. It was Norman who threw the home side a lifeline just five minutes after entering the action as he latched onto a long ball out of defence to fire a low drive across Joey Syndecombe and inside the far post. The winning goal arrived in the third minute of stoppage time as Lewis sent over a corner that caused confusion in the visitors' area. A couple of efforts were blocked by the Torpoint defence before the ball fell to Coulton, and he smashed it into the back of the net from 12 yards. Launceston 0 Millbrook 1 MANAGER Mark Jones was delighted after watching his side end a run that stretched back to December 16 last year. 'We had gone ten games without a victory so we changed a few things around, some forced and some by design. For once, it worked and they (Launceston) cannot complain at us winning. 'Launceston are having a good season and we came here after a poor result at Wadebridge. 'We were looking for a response and got it; this was a massive three points,' said Jones. The Clarets had the early chances, with Charlie Blair and Richard Hope both failing to beat goalkeeper Dave Painter when clear of the Millbrook defence. Millbrook made their hosts pay for those misses by taking a 23rd- minute lead when Joe Truelove fired in a cross from the right that struck two defenders before nestling in the back of the net to give Jones' side the surprise result of the day. Launceston player-manager Paul Smith was magnanimous in defeat, admitting: 'Millbrook fully deserved the victory for their work-rate.' St Austell 2 Callington Town 4 GEOFF Battams' young side had to twice come from behind before claiming a deserved victory at Poltair to finish their away League programme in style. Callington will now return to the Ginster's Marshfield Parc for their remaining nine games and will be looking to make home advantage count to continue their move up the table. 'This was a game between two very young sides and, although I was very disappointed with our performance in the first half-hour, we stuck to our game plan and reaped the rewards for once,' said a satisfied Battams. 'I was pleased with the lads' reaction to my half- time team talk.' Obviously, his words would have been rather forceful and the occasion was such that strong action was required to overturn a 2-1 half-time deficit. Former Torpoint striker James Cook shot the Lillywhites into a first-minute lead from four yards but, almost from the restart, Cally were level. A long kick from goalkeeper Dan Johnson set Gareth Jones free, and he executed a perfect lob over Lillywhites' keeper Martin Quintock from 20 yards. Cook restored St Austell's lead on 12 minutes as Callington then proceeded to waste numerous chances to level before the break. Thankfully, they needed only seven minutes of the second half to restore parity as Jason King profited from good work by Jones to fire home from eight yards. Jones grabbed his second of the game five minutes later after the impressive Danny Zalick had provided the spadework. Despite dominating the rest of the game, it was not until three minutes from time that Cally scored their fourth. Lee Grogan pulled Zalick back as he burst into the area, and Jones gratefully accepted the chance to crash the spot-kick past a helpless Quantick and claim his first hat-trick of the season. Plymouth Argyle 4 Goonhavern 0 ARGYLE'S youngsters began their run-in to the end of their short tenure in the South Western League with an inauspicious victory over bottom club Goonhavern. The struggling North Cornish outfit arrived at Bolitho Park with only nine players, plus manager Tony Rogers, who did extremely well to play in a central defensive role for the whole 90 minutes. They were also reduced in numbers with 20 minutes to go when Sam Waters limped out of the action, but they still managed to restrict Argyle to only four goals. The writing was on the wall as early as the first minute when Ben Joyce put a free header wide before forcing a great save out of visiting goalkeeper Steve Raven. Sam Malsom then followed suit by putting his header wide, but he was unlucky when he curled a fine drive just around the far post from the angle of the box. The breakthrough had to come – and the only surprise was that Goonhavern held out for 13 minutes. Dan Smith let fly with a 25-yard drive that hit the unfortunate Scott Whiting to fly past the dive of Raven. Raven was on top form, and pulled off saves from Tom King, Malsom and Joyce before Damian McCrory hit a post and Martin Watts saw his superb 30-yarder come back off the crossbar. Half-time words of wisdom from coach Mike Pejic appeared to have an effect on the home side, who promptly scored twice in the first seven minutes of the second half. Joyce put in Malsom, who supplied a cool finish as the ball flew inside the far post, before Watts rolled his free-kick into the path of Shane Duggan, who picked his spot from the edge of the area. It was soon back to normal, with Argyle creating at least a dozen clear-cut chances, only to find the overworked Raven too good. Falmouth 2 Torpoint 2 (Tuesday) AFTER finding themselves two goals down inside the opening 14 minutes, Torpoint could have been forgiven for caving in. But it was the opposite at Bickland Park as they fought back to level and, by the end of the game, they would have been slightly disappointed not to have won. Steve Proctor's low, angled drive gave Town the lead, and when the same player fired home the second from eight yards, things looked bleak for the Tamarsiders. However, to the delight of their management, Torpoint rolled up their sleeves and pulled a goal back on the half-hour. Steve Sims spotted Joe Tickle off his line to superbly lob the ball over the stranded goalkeeper from 20 yards. The equaliser came nine minutes after the break when Gary Williams let fly with a screamer from 25 yards that flew past the motionless Tickle. Torpoint were well in control of the game at this stage, but could not find that all-important third. They were put under heavy pressure in the final ten minutes as Town threw everything at them, but the defence stood firm to to make the long, evening journey worthwhile. q q q South West Counties Championship Cornwall 1 Guernsey 1 CORNWALL relinquished their hold on the South West Counties Championship trophy as they failed to beat the Channel Islanders and score the two goals necessary to overhaul the RAF and Navy. This was not a good display by Cornwall, who were faced by a Guernsey side that had lost both of their games to date and were expected to be the best fixture Cornwall could have had to finish their group matches. Instead, the visitors defended superbly, ably led by goalkeeper Jodie Bisson, and were always dangerous on the break. It was one such break that led to Guernsey opening the scoring on 63 minutes when Tom Duff fired home. Cornwall drew level 15 minutes from time when Dominic Richardson sent over a great cross for his fellow substitute Sam Matthews to meet at the far post with a powerful header that flew back across Jodie Bisson and inside the opposite post. Bisson continued to keep Cornwall at bay before Darren Gilbert appeared to be harshly red-carded ten minutes from time, but even then the home side had chances to grab that all-important second goal. 'We have to look at our finishing but, having said that, we didn't have the best of luck either,' said a clearly disappointed Cornwall manager Ray Nicholls. q q q South West Counties Youth Championship The Army 0 Cornwall 3 CORNWALL Youth salvaged some pride by beating the Army 3-0 in Aldershot to earn a place in the South West Counties Youth Championship final. The Duchy youngsters will host the final, on Saturday, May 5, when Hampshire will provide the opposition. The side were worthy winners, although they were gifted a fourth- minute lead when Army defender Tom Day hit a back-pass that by-passed his goalkeeper and rolled into his own net. A second goal followed seven minutes later when Scott Hill supplied a great finish, and the Foxhole striker completed the scoring 18 minutes from time to ensure Cornwall claimed their fourth appearance in the final.
