CARLSBERG SOUTH WESTERN LEAGUE (Wednesday) Bodmin Town 2 Saltash United 1 Ashes manager Tim Halford was gracious in defeat after his side suffered their first loss in 23 League games. 'All good things come to an end, we just have to pick ourselves up for the final three games,' said Halford. This was not the result that the other occupants of the top four wanted, but it ensures that the race for the championship will continue, possibly, until the end of the season. Saltash's future is not in their own hands now, as reigning champions Bodmin moved into second place – two points adrift of the Ashes but with a game in hand. 'I was not disappointed with the performance but, obviously, it was not the result we wanted,' added Halford, who had witnessed his side battle well at Priory Park. His side had given as good as they got for the first hour, but luck was against them as the home side took the lead. Darren Gilbert's corner found Ashes' central defender Tony Bouch heading into his own net under pressure from Danny O'Hagan. Saltash were level inside five minutes as Steve Sargison found Mark Chapman free to fire past his namesake Jason from 12 yards. Unfortunately for Saltash, the draw they deserved was not going to materialise as Mark Berry's deep cross found Gilbert heading home at the far post. Callington Town 4 Penzance 2 Geoff Battams' side followed up Saturday's victory over Millbrook with this comfortable success at the Ginsters Marshfield Parc. Town had to do it the hard way as they found themselves a goal down after only 30 seconds when Christian Lett fired the Magpies ahead. It took Callington another 24 minutes to find an equaliser, Gareth Jones shooting home from six yards. And it was not until ten minutes after the break that the Town striker hit his second of the game. Jones has hit form of late and his two goals took his tally for the season to 20, of which seven have been scored in the last six games. Matt Martin made it 3-1 on 70 minutes before Steve Floyd-Norris narrowed the deficit to one goal. The points were assured five minutes from time, however, when German midfielder Jonas Rathfelder volleyed home from ten yards for his first goal in English football. q q q (TUESDAY) Wadebridge Town 0 St Blazey 2 THE Green and Blacks were made to work hard for a vital three points away to a Wadebridge side that battled well, despite this result taking their run without a victory to eight games. The result moved Blazey back up to third place in the table. A break of ten days without a game is unusual at this stage of the season, but Blazey did not show any rustiness as they needed only six minutes to open the scoring, Dominic Richardson hitting home. The Bridgers made life difficult for their visitors and it was not until 20 minutes from time that Blazey finally made the points safe. Hesitancy between Bridgers' goalkeeper Dave Jones and his defence gave Nick Campbell the opportunity to nip in and shoot home from close range. Millbrook 2 Launceston 3 A PATCHED-UP Millbrook fought well against a Clarets side who are looking a certainty for a place in the new Premier League. The five goals were certainly entertainment for the home crowd, but the game itself was never allowed to flow by the over-officious stance of the referee. Millbrook were second best in the first half and it was only a combination of wayward finishing and good goalkeeping by Dave Painter that kept the visitors at bay. Millbrook shook the Clarets by taking the lead deep into first-half stoppage time, when Shaun Jones rifled home a 20-yard free-kick. Launceston replied with two goals from Richard Hope in the 54th and 58th minutes but, 60 seconds later, Millbrook were level when Tony Hendy lobbed Paul Hider from 25 yards. And the home side were made to pay for switching off in defence when Dan Rodgers fired home from the edge of the area to clinch the points for the visitors. q q q (SATURDAY) Liskeard 2 Torpoint 0 ONCE again, at Lux Park, the quality of the win may not have been of the highest calibre, but the end result certainly justified any means of play as the Blues overcame stubborn opponents. This victory well and truly keeps Liskeard in the championship melting pot. 'We keep plodding along but we are getting wins, and that is the important thing at this time of the season,' said Blues' boss Allan Evans. Liskeard should have settled any early nerves in the 13th minute, but Sam Matthews contrived to shoot high over the bar from close range when set-up by Paul Baker. Undaunted, the Blues continued to dominate proceedings but, when they did get their shots on target, they found Torpoint goalkeeper Joey Syndecombe in excellent form. Not that Liskeard had it all their own way, as Luke Avis-Riordan almost gave Torpoint the lead in the 27th minute, cleverly turning Jamie Evans inside out before putting his volley just over the home crossbar. Just as both sides were looking forward to the half- time interval, however, a 42nd-minute long clearance by Kevin Robinson saw Paul Baker use his pace to get behind the Torpoint defence before rifling a shot past Syndecombe from 18 yards. The second period saw Torpoint begin to wilt under the heat and the home pressure, but Liskeard were again frustrated by Syndecombe and his defence. Liskeard finally made the game safe in the 79th minute when poor Torpoint defending at a James Alexander right-wing corner saw Robinson take full advantage to run in unopposed and plant a close- range header in at the back post. After that second goal, the game more or less ran out of steam, but that will not matter to Liskeard, who will see this as another game; another victory in their chase for the title. 'We keep creating plenty of chances and missing plenty of them, but as long as we keep scoring and winning games I will have no complaints,' added Evans. Torpoint boss Ian Stephens was not sure whether to take positives or negatives from the game following this defeat for his young side. 'We've tried to play football the right way today and worked a lot harder than we did against Tavistock last week, but we still keep giving away soft goals, so there is, as always, plenty of things to work on,' said Stephens. Callington 3 Millbrook 1 IT looked as if Callington were heading for a repeat performance of last week's horrible home defeat against Tavistock until an extremely debatable penalty decision sparked a remarkable comeback at the Ginsters Marshfield Parc. Up until the 54th minute, Millbrook had seemed comfortable defending a one-goal lead, provided by Tony Hendy, following some inept Callington defending in the seventh minute. It is best left to the imagination what choice words were said to his team by home manager Geoff Battams in the sanctity of the dressing room at half-time. 'The boys responded well to my talk at half-time and that is pleasing,' was all Battams would say, when asked what magic words he had used. Whatever was said, it had an effect, although Callington needed the boost of a harsh 54th- minute penalty given – for a change – in their favour. James Boon seemed to have done well to have controlled a ball on his chest but, to the surprise of all at the ground, a referee's assistant thought otherwise and, after the inevitable protests from Millbrook, Chris Sully levelled matters from the penalty spot. Totally rattled, Millbrook promptly conceded again four minutes later, Matt Martin thumping home from a Dan Discombe training-ground free-kick move. Now, with the wind utterly in their sails, Callington pressed forward and scored a decisive third goal in the 66th minute. A flowing Town move down the right flank ended with a Chris Gerry cross, which was fired into the net by Danny Zalick, leaving both managers with something to ponder after the match. 'We turned round a poor first half into a good second half – and I thought we very much deserved our win in the end,' said Battams. Millbrook manager Mark Jones understandably pointed to the penalty award as the game's defining moment. 'The side lost the plot following that penalty award and they scored three times while we were still recovering our composure, and I am disappointed with that aspect of the team's game,' commented Jones. Plymouth Parkway 0 Saltash Utd 4 SALTASH were awesome in this comprehensive victory at Bolitho Park, where the home side were fortunate to lose by only four goals. From the minute that Marc Thorne fired them ahead, Saltash never looked in any danger of losing this game, although their management were still not totally satisfied. 'We did not perform as well as we can,' said Ashes assistant manager Kevin Hendy. The management must be hard task-masters as the healthy crowd were complimentary in their assessment of this young, yet talented, Saltash side. They required only 87 seconds for Thorne to turn sharply, 30 yards out wide on the right-flank, and send a spectacular half-volley flying past home goalkeeper Tom Buckler and into the far top-corner of the home goal. Saltash went from strength-to-strength and had Parkway back-pedalling for the rest of the half, and it was only a questionable decision by the referee that denied the visitors a second goal on 16 minutes. Carl Pender's challenge on Gavin Woodward looked a fair one before the Ashes striker ran on to fire past Buckler, but the referee, much to the surprise and relief of the home crowd, called play back for a foul. Mark Chapman then put two long-range efforts narrowly wide of the goal before Pender was once again cursing his luck after his shot left Buckler rooted to the spot before coming back off the inside of the far post and into the grateful keeper's arms. Parkway emerged from the interval looking determined to take the game to the League leaders, but the wind was taken out of their sails after only five minutes. Steve Sargison's pass found Daley Simpson nipping in between Buckler and Virgil Igalawuye to steer the ball into an empty net. The impressive Daley Simpson was a constant worry to the Parkway defence with his runs from deep, and he was unlucky to see his low drive, from the edge of the box, whistle just wide with Buckler beaten. Simpson had better luck on 68 minutes when he found himself in space on the edge of the area before firing low into the far corner of the Parkway goal. The scoring was completed seven minutes from time as indecision between Buckler and Woodward allowed Thorne to get in between them and shoot into an unguarded net. Wadebridge Town 0 Plymouth Argyle 6 BRIDGERS' bosses admitted that this young Argyle outfit had given them a 'footballing lesson' at Bodieve Park. 'The first half was a very good performance as we worked the ball quite well and consistently throughout the first 45 minutes,' explained Argyle manager Mike Pejic. 'Unfortunately, once again, we started the second half poorly, allowing the other side to gain confidence, and they had a couple of chances in that period,' he added. Martin Watts' ability in the deadball department led to Argyle's opening goal on nine minutes, when his corner was diverted into his own net by a Wadebridge defender. And it was another identical Watts corner that saw Toby Davis get in between the defenders and head home from six yards for Argyle's second goal. Three minutes before the break, a good move down the left flank found Damian McCrory crossing to the far post for Dan Smith to volley into the net. To their credit, Wadebridge came back at Argyle after the break, but their revival was cut short on the hour as Davis set up Smith to drive in a shot that curled inside the far post from 22 yards. Three minutes later it was 5-0, as substitute Gregg Moseley played a great through ball that split the Bridgers' defence for Smith to race clear and supply the cross for Sam Malsom to head home. In the final minute, Moseley played another great ball for Josh Grant to run through from midfield, drawing Dave Jones before sending a delightful left-foot chip over the goalkeeper once he had forced him to commit himself.
