St Dennis 2 Liskeard Athletic 0

Liskeard’s hopes of clinching promotion from division one west of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League are all but over after a controversial defeat at Boscawen Park on Wednesday evening.

The Blues had goalkeeper Josh Gilbert and joint manager Martin Hodge sent off by referee Nigel D’Arcy, who also disallowed a Liskeard effort after two minutes and awarded two dubious penalties to St Dennis.

Gilbert was shown a straight red card, presumably for dissent, in the 28th minute after defender Harry Southcott was judged to have pushed a St Dennis player at a corner.Southcott took over in goal and then watched as Lee Rickard steered his spot kick wide.But St Dennis were given another dubious penalty in the 42nd minute when defender Dylan Peel was adjudged to have deliberately handled.This time Carl Rickard stepped up and smashed his spot kick high into the net.Carl Rickard must have thought he had doubled the Saints' lead in the 58th minute with a fierce shot but Southcott pulled off a reflex save to turn the ball onto a post and away.Soon afterwards, Liskeard striker James Lorenz was booked, apparently for asking the referee a question, which brought a response from joint manager Martin Hodge from the sidelines.As he continued his rant, the referee marched over to him and brandished the red card.Five minutes later it was game over for Liskeard when a mistake by Peel let in Mike Davies for a simple finish to make it 2-0.To their credit, Liskeard finished strongly, with Lorenz going on a mazy run before producing a stunning left foot shot which St Dennis goalkeeper Broadfield tipped over the bar.And three minutes from time Peel fired a left foot volley towards goal but his effort crashed against the post.Liskeard: J Gilbert, H Southcott, A King, S Gilbert (L Webber 68), D Peel, A Daw, R Cleveland, J Lorenz, T Cleveland, B Collins.