The Ashes were kicking themselves all the way back to Kimberley Stadium after literally throwing away the chance of lifting the Westinsure Cornwall Senior Cup.Saltash United lost 2-3 away to St Austell in the Cornwall Senior Cup Final.

The memories of last season's disappointing defeat could have been firmly consigned to the back burner as the Ashes led 2-0 at Blaise Park, only to let their Division One West opponents off the hook.

Saltash could point to the referee and his assistant, who were practically the only people in Blaise Park not to see Dan Nancarrow head the ball out of goalkeeper Kenny Griffiths' hands before firing into an empty net.

St Austell may have been gifted their life-line by the officials, but they were not to blame for the schoolboy defending that gave the Lillywhites their two late goals and saw them win the Senior Cup for the first time in 37 years.

'We looked upon the first goal with utter disbelief, but after that our defending was totally woeful,' said Ashes' assistant boss Phil Harvey.

'Kevin (Hendy) and myself said at half-time that it the Cup was ours to throw away, and even at 2-2 our inability to defend properly has cost us the final.' Saltash were missing key players on the day, as Harvey confirmed: 'We were restricted in the options as we had Gavin Coulton and Shaun Manley injured, but we're not making that an excuse, as in the first half we were methodical and in control, and in the second period we didn't have the bottle for it.'

The Ashes' fans will take this defeat harder than last term's – when their side were unlucky to lose to Truro City – but on this occasion they had victory in the palm of their hand.

Everything looked on course for Saltash, as they looked the far better side in the first half, taking the lead eight minutes before the break when Carlton Farnham's right-wing cross flew into the St Austell net off the thigh of Josh Higman. The memory of last year's defeat looked to be erased when Stuart Clark raced through the middle of the St Austell defence to supply a clinical finish in to the far corner as goalkeeper Gary Penhaligon dived at his feet.

The afternoon began to

go wrong when Nancarrow's gamesmanship went unpunished, but it was non-existent marking that allowed Lee Whetter to rise at the far post on 82 minutes to head back across Griffiths and inside the far post.

Worse was to come as, with the game in the first minute of stoppage time, Danny Lewis mis-timed his headed clearance forcing Griffiths to produced a great save, only for substitute Chris Phillips to steer the loose ball home from a tight angle... and the rest is history!