Carlsberg South Western League Liskeard Athletic 2 Wadebridge Town 1 The Blues' fans will not worry about the closeness of this encounter at Lux Park, just the three points that takes their side level on points with fourth- placed Bodmin Town, with a game in hand. The partnership of Lee Harvey and John Horne have kept the pot boiling since the departure of Dave Leonard, with passage into the third round of the Senior Cup, plus four points from two League games. 'The lads put everything into the game, had all the chances and could have, with a bit more luck, won by four or five goals,' said Harvey. 'Wadebridge, to their credit, always looked dangerous on the break and, I have to be honest, they could have made us pay for not taking those chances in the quarter.' The Blues look likely to be entering the crucial Christmas period handily placed for an assault on pole position, despite the recent shock to their system. Wadebridge travelled to Lux Park determined to avenge their recent 4-0 defeat in the Charity Cup, and they certainly made life hard for the Blues, despite going a goal down in the fifth minute when John Morris put Matt Cusack clear to fire home. Liskeard put the visitors' rearguard under heavy pressure and were rewarded with a second nine minutes before the break when Harvey sent in a cross for Baker to convert his 16th goal of the season. Wadebridge continued to frustrate their hosts in the second period and even managed to give the home fans a nervous last 12 minutes after Mike Retter had tapped the ball home. Plymouth Parkway 1 Liskeard Athletic 1 BLUES' caretaker manager Lee Harvey took plenty of positives from this draw at Bolitho Park. Parkway have become Liskeard's bogey side in the League, so it will have done Harvey's job application for the manager's hot seat at Liskeard no harm at all to have returned home with a point. 'Last year, Parkway took five out of six points off us, and this year we've taken four out of six off them,' said Harvey after the game. 'What with all the upheavals at the club at the moment, the side is showing all the character and passion I could have asked of them.' The Blues took the lead with a slightly fortuitous collectors' item – a goal from captain Jamie Morrison-Hill, in the 23rd minute. Sam Matthews did most of the spadework, ending a run with a shot that thumped off the home crossbar. The ball eventually found its way to Morrison-Hill, whose optimistic 25-yard shot ballooned over home goalkeeper Tom Buckler, courtesy of a deflection off home defender Virgil Igalawuye. Despite the heavy pitch, the Blues played their trademark flowing football and all that was missing was the finishing touch as, unfortunately, Liskeard's finishing did not match up to the approach work. 'Plenty of shooting practice, especially for the midfield,' was Harvey's comment. When you dominate for long periods and don't score, often your opponents come back with a sucker punch, and Parkway duly did. Using the pace of new signing Ryan Fice and Martyn Sullivan on the break to excellent effect, Parkway levelled in the 56th minute when Fice swept home Sullivan's cross. Both sides had chances to snatch a winner, but maybe a point and a lesson learned was a fair return at the final whistle. 'We'll take getting a point as a positive from the game, and that disappointment the side is showing from not winning today shows the spirit is definitely willing amonst the playing staff; we'll move on from here,' concluded Harvey. St Blazey 3 Tavistock 2 ST BLAZEY kept themselves level-pegging with Plymouth Argyle at the top of the table with this last-ditch win at Blaise Park over Tavistock. Home fans might have expected the lowly Lambs of Tavistock to have come dreading being slaughtered but, instead, the visitors were at least the match of their hosts. The first half may have been scoreless, but that was not due to the lack of goalmouth action, Both goalkeepers, Gary Penhaligon of the Green and Blacks and Andy Meeds of Tavistock, produced several fine saves. St Blazey finally opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, Steve Ovens' trickery creating the space to allow the striker to shoot home from eight yards. Ovens was on target again seven minutes later, this time firing home from 12 yards after cleverly breaking the Tavistock offside trap. Normally, with a two-goal lead at home, that would have been that. But, despite being joint League leaders, St Blazey have occasionally shown some fallibility this season. Tavistock are an obdurate side, and in Glynn Hobbs they have a striker who can, on his day, cause havoc. Hobbs duly began the Lambs' comeback in the 71st minute with a measured finish following a typical storming run. Under pressure, St Blazey duly found themselves back where they had started three minutes from time when Chris Short galloped through from the halfway line and let fly with a 35-yarder which flashed past Penhaligon. Champion teams do, however, always seem to have something in reserve when times of crisis come upon them – and, on this occasion, so did St Blazey. Deep into stoppage time, home substitute Wayen Riley cut in from the left wing and fired home from 18 yards to keep the St Blazey bandwagon merrily rolling along. Torpoint Ath 5 Penzance 1 TORPOINT manager Ian Stephens reaped an immediate return from his new signing Chris Maskell as his normally goal-shy side went nap against the Magpies at The Mill. Maskell produced a five-star performance, capped by a debut goal, leaving Stephens in the unaccustomed position of being able to be just a little bit smug after the game. 'I was delighted with Chris (Maskell) today – Saltash must have some sort of midfield to be able to have let him leave,' said Stephens. Torpoint's first win in ten games came at a canter against a poor Penzance side who barely registered a shot on the home goal. Dan Parkes opened the scoring with a 14th-minute volley from Gary Ashton's cross, but home nerves were not settled until Maskell's goal just before the hour. Steve Sims sent over a cross which Maskell chested down and volleyed home from 12 yards and, from that moment, all the woes of the season so far seemed to disappear from the home side. Jamie Evans made it 3-0 in the 70th minute with a pinpoint header from Gary Williams' free-kick, and home fans must have started pinching themselves when Parkes scored his second goal of the game four minutes later. The only blot of the day on the home copybook came in the 79th minute when Paul Cox scored from the spot for the visitors after Williams was adjudged to be guilty of handball. It took only three minutes for the revitalised Torpoint to show their teeth, Ben Waters executing a cool finish after being left one-on-one with Magpies' goalkeeper Paul Williams for the fifth. 'Everything went right for us today; we took our chances, especially in the second half – something we have not done so far this season,' said Stephens. 'As soon as the second goal went in, the confidence in the side was there for all to see. Now, hopefully, we can build on that and really get our season going.' Falmouth Town 0 Plymouth Argyle 4 STUART Gibson will be leaving Home Park with the Youth set-up in great shape as this impressive victory at Bickland Park kept his young charges at the top of the table. Gibson is unsure how many more games he will be in charge of as he officially ends his tenure as youth manager today, but he is still hopeful of taking the South Western League side to Launceston. Gibson was delighted with this victory, which was achieved despite the side containing only five of the team that won 2-0 at Wigan in the FA Youth Cup. He was also without imposing central defender Paul Kendall, who missed the game after aggravating his ankle in Lancashire. 'I changed things today to freshen the squad up after last Wednesday's game and to give one or two players an opportunity,' explained Gibson. Argyle shook the home crowd in the second minute as Mark Petnehazi's superb pass caused havoc in the Town penalty area. The home defence only partially cleared the danger, and when the ball was swiftly returned into the area, it found local striker Toby Davis in space and he promptly volleyed the ball home from eight yards. Argyle's second goal, after 62 minutes, was a superb effort which, alone, was worth the Bickland admission money. Argyle were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from goal, and the impressive Petnehazi spotted Anthony Mason making his run. The Hungarian youngster chipped a great ball over the defensive wall for the Irish Youth international striker to volley the ball, on the turn, into the roof of the net. It was another substitute who eventually made it 3 -0 when Ben Joyce superbly lobbed Joe Tickle from 25 yards before Mason grabbed his second, in stoppage time, when he tapped home Joyce's cross from inside the six-yard-box. q q q Durning Lawrence Cornwall Charity Cup Quarter- Final Porthleven 2 Millbrook 1 (aet) Mark Jones' young side did not get the luck they needed to claim the first semi-final place in this season's Charity Cup. The players opted for a long midweek journey to Gala Parc instead of playing the game last Sunday, and they must have feared the worse when Tom Lamborne gave Port a fourth-minute lead The Tamarsiders battled their way back into the game and it was no more than they deserved when Joe Truelove restored parity on 40 minutes. Neither side was able to find the back of the net again, in normal time and, unfortunately for the visitors, it was Port who were to take victory as Lamborne struck his second of the game in the extra period.
