THE Peppermints’ play-off hopes took a blow on Tuesday night at in-form Barnstaple Town ran out 2-1 winners at Mill Road.

Newquay headed up to North Devon off the back of a 5-1 thrashing of Oldland Abbotonians, and boss Shaun Middleton made one alteration as Jacob Grange came in for Callam McOnie who is having his minutes monitored following a long-term injury earlier in the season.

Barnstaple have enjoyed a brilliant run of form to soar into the top five and included former St Austell midfielder Neil Slateford in their starting line-up having started the season at Wadebridge Town.

The opening 45 minutes saw both sides have their moments, but a combination of good goalkeeping and brave defending at both ends of the pitch looked to have ensured the sides would go into the break at 0-0.

However, with 44 minutes on the clock, Newquay’s defenders switched off from a cross in from the middle of the field as Tommy Rogers ghosted in to fire through Ethan Elwell’s legs.

Within four minutes of the restart it was 2-0 as a fine cross in from the right was brilliantly headed in by the mercurial Gabby Rogers.

Middleton had seen enough and soon introduced McOnie and wideman Tom Shepherd for Grange and Rhys Simmonds, and soon got on top, culminating in Louis Price halving the deficit on 68 minutes.

Taking a pass from the excellent McOnie, he turned before firing a fine shot into the bottom right-hand corner from 20 yards.

Newquay continued to probe away in search of a valuable point and had three decent chances, none of which went in as Bray-Evans headed wide from a free-kick, McOnie was denied from 25 yards and Price had an effort blocked from inside the box.

Middleton admitted it was a frustrating night, but praised his side, adding: “Although we were beaten, I was really proud of how we performed, how hard we worked, and how unfortunate we were to come away with at least a point.

“Overall, we did really well, as typified by a man-of-the-match performance from midfield from Matt Searle. He’s a high-octane quality footballer who contributes at both ends of the pitch.”

The result leaves the Peppermints seven points off fifth-placed Sidmouth Town who occupy the final play-off spot, though the Cornishmen three games in-hand.

Newquay are back at Mount Wise for the first time since February 7 on Saturday when they welcome in-form Street (3pm).

While the Cobblers are in mid-table, they have come into form and head to Cornwall off the back of three straight wins.

Middleton continued: “We’d love to get a win on Saturday, but Street are in a good vain of form at the moment, so we’re expecting a very tough game.

“For us it’s about getting on the right side of those fine margins. Generally we defended really well on Tuesday night, but we switched off a couple of times and got punished.

“We also need to start taking our chances better in those tight games. We’ve got lots of attacking options, so it’s up to the boys to take their opportunity when they get it, not only for themselves, but most importantly for the team and the club.”

NEWQUAY: Ethan Elwell; Jamie Edlin, Harry Downing (capt), Cam Turner, Tom Moxham; Aaron Dilley (Lucas Potts, 60), Matt Searle; Jacob Grange (Callam McOnie, 53), Jack Bray-Evans, Rhys Simmonds (Tom Shepherd, 53); Louis Price. Subs unused: Brodie Cole (gk), Harry Richards.

Peppermints’ man-of-the-match: Matt Searle.