Dominant Liskeard denied by another late goal in Buckland Athletic draw

Liskeard’s recent habit of conceding crucial goals in time added on reared its ugly head again at Homers Heath on Saturday.

The Blues, who dominated the game, looked set to hold onto a 1-0 lead given to them by James Lorenz in the 54th minute, but Isaac McCue stepped up to curl a left foot shot through the wall into the right corner of the net in the third minute of injury-time, sparking wild celebrations from the home team as the Blues paid the price for not finishing off their opponents, having hit the woodwork five times in a fine performance.

Joint manager Darren Gilbert said: “We are very disappointed because we should have been five or six up and then their goal wouldn’t have mattered. We’ve missed five one-on-ones, hit the bar three times and the post twice. It was just one of those days.

“The first half was fairly even but we were different class in the second half when we switched to a 4-3-3 after Kai (Gilbert) came off with a groin problem and Harry (Jeffery) came on. Jack Crago and James Lorenz ripped them apart, then George Newton came on for the last 20 minutes and he was brilliant.

“It was a great team performance to be fair and I felt sorry for Ollie (Chenoweth) in the end because he deserved to keep a clean sheet. We need to stop conceding late goals, but in terms of our performance yesterday we couldn’t have asked for much more from the boys.”

In a first half of few chances, Kai Gilbert saw a 16th minute shot turned around the post and then fired over the bar after creating some space for himself.

At the other end, Toby Pullman thought his 19th minute shot was heading towards the net before Ben Collins made a last-ditch clearance.

Pullman threatened again just before half-time, attempting to round Ollie Chenoweth, but the Liskeard keeper snatched the ball off his feet.

The Blues came close to breaking the deadlock four minutes into the second half when Lorenz latched onto a cross from Jack Crago to fire his shot against the post.

A similar move in the 54th minute finally brought a goal. Crago, making his Blues league debut, raced clear along the left and this time his cross was fired home by Lorenz.

It was almost 2-0 on the hour when Bailey Mabin, standing just inside his own half, spotted Searle off his line and tried an outrageous shot which hit the bar.

Buckland then had a couple of chances which brought out the best in Chenoweth before Liskeard were denied by the woodwork again – Crago hit the bar in the 80th minute and two minutes later a George Newton shot struck a post before Crago lifted the rebound over.

The Blues were reduced to 10 men near the end when Max Gilbert was sin-binned while Mabin, who had been substituted 20 minutes earlier, was shown a red card after the final whistle for something he said to the referee.

Liskeard are back in action on Wednesday night when they visit Cornish rivals Newquay (7.30pm).

LISKEARD ATHLETIC: Ollie Chenoweth; Ben Cross, Ben Collins, Kai Gilbert (Harry Jeffery, 46), TobyHaley, Matt Andrew, Max Gilbert, James Lorenz (Scott Sanders, 88), Harvey Mullis, Bailey Mabin (GeorgeNewton, 70), Jack Crago. Sub not used: Josh Robins.

Blues’ man-of-the-match: Jack Crago.