PREMIER DIVISION Liskeard Athletic 3 Torpoint Athletic 4 THE Blues' charge up the league table came to a grinding halt at Lux Park at the hands of a resilient, never-say-die Torpoint side in a match that had virtually everything for the brave, loyal fans who witnessed it in the distinctly chilly conditions. Seven goals, incidents galore, and a display of questionable officiating all contributed to keeping the supporters of both sides' minds off the body- numbing cold weather. There has been much made this week of the departure from Torpoint of striker Adam Carter to Saltash, but in Darren Hicks, Torpoint might have found a worthy successor. Hicks notched two goals and saw a penalty saved, and generally made a complete nuisance of himself to the home defence. Hicks opened the scoring in the seventh minute as he burst between two Liskeard defenders before slotting the ball over advancing goalkeeper Simon Zinn. Not to be outdone, Blues' captain Kevin Robinson levelled matters three minutes later by meeting James Alexander's corner with a superb 18-yard volley. Chris Wright made his first mark on the game with a low 34th-minute shot to give Liskeard the lead, before the officials took a hand – or perhaps didn't. Zinn, who was clearly the last man, brought down Hicks but only received a yellow card and promptly saved the latter's penalty to rub salt into Torpoint wounds. The second half was even more action-packed than the first, with the referee contributing to livening up proceedings with an alarming tally of bookings, mostly for dissent, as both teams became frustrated with the team in black. Hicks got his second goal of the game in the 53rd minute as he followed up to score after Zinn had saved Ben Davies' shot. Former Blue Jamie Evans found the back of the home net when he finished off Gary Williams' 65th- minute corner to give Torpoint the lead. If the shenanigans of the first half penalty award were good, those of Liskeard's award, in the 71st minute, were even better. Optimistic home appeals, when Ben Woods' cross bounced up and struck Williams' hand, were answered in the affirmative for Wright to convert from 12 yards once the dust had settled. Both sides refused to settle for the draw and Torpoint, in particular, will feel that justice was done in stoppage time. Mike Roberts took advantage of defensive hesitation to score the winning goal and bring an eventful match to a fitting climax. 'With all that's gone on this week at the club and from the officials today, we could have felt sorry for ourselves, but it speaks volumes that we have emerged from a difficult game with a win, which I thought we just about deserved on the day,' said Torpoint manager Ian Stephens. Liskeard joint manager John Horne countered with: 'I thought we played quite well at times, but our defending was sloppy, and when we got ourselves ahead, we failed to capitalise with a third goal. 'It might have been a great match for the fans, but I can assure you there is nobody in the home dressing room that is happy after losing this match.' Saltash United 2 Buckland Athletic 2 MID-TABLE Buckland came very close to ending the Ashes' proud 18-match league and cup unbeaten streak with an object lesson in defending against the odds. Ashes boss Kevin Hendy was quick to put his finger on just why his side failed to put away a team that looked, on paper at least, to be a relatively straightforward assignment. 'They (Buckland) are a very hard-working, very organised side with pace up front, and if they play as well as that each week, it's no surprise that they keep taking points off all the top sides,' said Hendy. The Ashes boss included new signings Carlton Farnham and, on the bench, Adam Carter, but they certainly made life hard for themselves by giving their opponents a two-goal start inside the first 20 minutes. Buckland's first goal came from a seventh-minute penalty, with Danny Gaze thumping the ball home after he had been fouled by Stuart Clark. Buckland's second came 12 minutes later, this time as a result of Toby Clark misjudging a long clearance by visiting goalkeeper Neil Montandon, leaving Gavin Hammon to make no mistake with a first-time volley from 20 yards. A combination of stout Buckland defending and a host of missed chances, from Farnham, Mark Chapman, Danny Lewis and Gavin Coulton, before the break meant the Ashes had a mountain to climb after the interval. The second period saw Saltash even more dominant and they finally began their comeback in the 57th minute, with Lewis cutting in from the left before firing a cross-shot past Montandon. Still Buckland were giving the their hosts something to think about, with their forward duo of Hammon and Harry Taylor keeping the home defence honest, as the home side pushed forward looking for the equaliser. Eventually the pressure told, with Coulton controlling Steve Sargison's pass and his final shot defeating Mark Harding's best efforts to keep the ball out of the net only 12 minutes from time. A minute from time, Carter almost crowned his debut with a goal as he slid the ball under Montandon, only to see his effort easily cleared away by a back- pedalling defence. Nevertheless, Hendy remained philosophically cheerful at the final whistle. 'I'm always disappointed not to win, but I'll take a draw after being 2-0 down. That said, we could, or even should, have gone on to win, given the amount of pressure we put on Buckland,' he admitted. Newton Abbot Spurs 1 St Blazey 6 St Blazey's impressive post-Christmas run continued at the Recreation Ground with this excellent win, and performance, which allowed the Blaise Park outfit to leapfrog their hosts in the league table. The Green and Blacks may have got off to a stuttering start this season, but manager Dave Philp's influence is now beginning to really show and rival clubs will doubtless be starting to look over their shoulders as the Blazey revival gathers pace. 'Very satisfied,' was Philp's brief initial assessment of his side's performance. 'I thought it took us about half-an-hour to get to grips with their physical style of play, but once we did, we always looked like winning.' After Matt Drummond had set the early tone for St Blazey, their opening goal came in the 35th minute, with the Saints striker moving on to a Bradley Ralph pass to shoot past Spurs goalkeeper Ross Bellotti. The floodgates began to open after the break as St Blazey's fluid football began to dominate proceedings. Steve Sims doubled the lead with a 52nd-minute free-kick, with Mike Body adding a third four minutes later. Spurs did give themselves a glimmer of hope in the 63rd minute when Lee Whetter pushed Tom Sercombe and Geoff Breslan scored from the resultant penalty. Eight minutes later, however, St Blazey slammed the door shut as Drummond scored from a tight angle. St Blazey then took full advantage to boost their goal tally with two late strikes from Matt Moore and new signing Mike Southgate, to put a broad smile on Philp's face at the final whistle. 'We've found some consistency since Christmas, and now we also have a settled side, we are starting to play well,' concluded the ever-modest Philp.
