Dobwalls 0 Liskeard Athletic 3

LISKEARD moved to the top of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League division one west table after victory over local rivals Dobwalls at Lantoom Park on Good Friday morning.

But they made hard work of finishing off their struggling opponents, with two goals in the last five minutes eventually easing their supporters’ nerves.

Ben Collins had given promotion-chasing Liskeard a perfect start with a fine run and finish in the fifth minute but it took until the 85th minute for top scorer James Lorenz to notch the second.

That sealed the three points and skipper Jack Podmore’s excellent injury time strike was the icing on the cake.

Dobwalls goalkeeper Brice Shields emerged as man of the match for a string of stunning saves in the second half, most of which kept Lorenz at bay until late on.

Liskeard manager Martin Hodge said: ‘We should have killed the game off before we did, but this result gets us back on track after our home defeat by Plymouth Marjon on Tuesday.’

In a game switched to Dobwalls at the last minute because Liskeard’s Lux Park pitch was waterlogged, there were lively early exchanges before Collins raced onto a long clearance by goalkeeper Josh Gilbert to curl in a fifth minute shot.

It should have been 2-0 six minutes later when Jarrad Woods produced an inch-perfect free kick to the unmarked Tom Cleveland, but his ambitious volley flew just over the bar.

Cleveland, playing up front in place of unexpected absentee Sam Rogers, was shown a yellow card for his protests after brother Rob was booked for not being 10 yards back from a free kick in the 18th minute.

But Tom remained the main threat to Dobwalls in the first half, twice going close to increasing his side’s lead before the break.

Central defender Dylan Peel also had an opportunity from a Woods free kick but Dobwalls keeper Shields pulled off the first of his series of great saves.

Dobwalls started the second half on top but wasted several crosses from the right which flew across the face of goal with nobody there to provide an equaliser.

Liskeard then regained some control and after a 63rd minute Podmore header had crashed against the bar, Tom Cleveland must have thought he had got the finishing touch to a Woods free kick but somehow Shields managed to lift the ball over the bar.

It then became the Lorenz versus Shields show, as three times in three minutes the Liskeard striker was denied by excellent saves.

But Lorenz had the final word in the duel five minutes from time when he beat the offside trap to take the ball around Shields and fire into an empty net.

And with the game moving into the first of three added minutes, Podmore weaved his way across the face of the Dobwalls penalty area before firing an unstoppable drive past Shields.

Dobwalls: B Shields, C Kearney, A Frost, B Westlake, M Hill, D O’Brien, V Wright Harper-Innis (J Avery 76), J Inwood, J Jasper, S Ingram (S Jones 55), D Perryman. Sub not used: J Smelt.

Yellow cards: J Jasper (8), J Inwood (40), B Westlake (70).

Liskeard Athletic: J Gilbert, H Southcott, S Gilbert (A Gregory 76), J Podmore, D Peel, A King, J Woods, J Lorenz, T Cleveland (A Rudokov 87), R Cleveland, B Collins (L Webber 88).

Goals: B Collins (5), J Lorenz (85), J Podmore (90+1).

Yellow cards: T Cleveland (18), R Cleveland (18), J Lorenz (40), D Peel (68).

Man of the Match: Brice Shields – produced some outstanding saves to keep Liskeard out until the late stages.