Elburton Villa 2 Saltash United 3

Dave Barker’s 87th minute goal secured all three points for Saltash in a hard-fought Carlsberg South West Peninsula League premier division match at Haye Road on Friday night.

The right back is in a rich vein of scoring form at the moment – this was his fifth goal in the last seven appearances.

Third in the table Saltash had to dig deep for their 10th league win of the season, after fourth from bottom Elburton twice held the lead.

After a goalless first half, which featured a missed penalty by Saltash midfield man Dave Trott in the 34th minute, the second half proved to be full of incident.

Five minutes after the break Jed Smale put Elburton ahead but the lead lasted only two minutes with Ryan Richards, returning after suspension, equalising.

The visitors were then expected to take the game to their hosts but Villa retook the lead in the 62nd minute with Matt Thackery making it 2-1.

Saltash, without regular front man Sam Hughes, brought on Lee Phillips from the bench and the former Plymouth Argyle striker equalised in the 70th minute.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw, especially when Saltash had winger Richard Maddison sent off for dissent in the 85th minute.

But the Ashes responded with snatching the winner two minutes later through the in-form Barker.

Saltash: R Rickard, D Barker, C Martindale, C Menhenick, S Leary, D Trott, R Maddison, S Farrant, S Leary, R Richards, S Sargison. Subs: D Lewis, H Wilson, J Simmonds, L Phillips, C Summerfield.