RYAN Richards came off the bench to score the goal which settled a hard-fought Cornwall derby at The Mill on Tuesday evening.

The experienced striker, who was introduced just before the hour, chased a through ball along the right in the 72nd minute and just managed to beat onrushing St Blazey keeper Kyle Moore to the ball and steer his shot into an unguarded net.

Torpoint then survived late St Blazey pressure to extend their unbeaten start to the league season to four games, with three successive wins.

Torpoint manager Dean Cardew said: “It was a really hard-fought win against a team full of good players. I thought it was our best performance so far this season and was really pleasing to finally get a clean sheet.

“First half we were excellent and deserved to go in two, maybe three up with chances created and having an absolute stonewall penalty turned away after Sam Pearson was thrown to the ground.

“When you don’t find yourself in front in those situations you do worry that you’ll get caught by a sucker punch, but we didn’t allow that to happen and kept on the front foot and eventually got that all important goal.

“A really pleasing and deserved three points.”

Blazey boss Mark Carter said: “It was another tough one to take. Once again, we’ve competed strongly against a side that I believe will be in the top five come the end of the season.

“Football is a game of fine margins, but I can’t keep praising the lads for competing if we’re not taking anything from these games.

“We had our chances – Teigan struck the bar, and we had a goal from Tyler Elliott controversially ruled out, which was a really poor decision in my view.

“That’s frustrating to deal with. That said, Kyle has had to make two important saves as well at the other end.

“In what was a tight game with little between the two sides, I felt we matched Torpoint well across the pitch.

“Losing Aaron Bentley to injury was a blow and definitely weakened our back line, which probably played a part in the goal we conceded. What was disappointing was the manner in which we conceded it.”

He added: “When you’ve got players of Ryan Richards’ and Max Gilbert’s quality to bring on late in the game, it can make all the difference — and it did.

“But credit to Torpoint, for putting the ball in the net, that’s something we didn’t do.

“There are no easy games in this league, and the tough fixtures just keep coming. We’ve got to bounce back quickly. Saltash away on Saturday – unbeaten and top of the table – followed by a very strong Paulton side next week.

“In our first seven games, I genuinely believe we’ve faced five sides who will be right up there come the end of the season.

“So keeping the morale of the group up is a priority for me.”

Both sides had early half chances as headers from Curtis Damerell and Noah Maund went wide while the much-travelled Stuart Bowker, leading the line for Blazey, was soon in the thick of the action against Callum O’Brien, earning a yellow card after 12 minutes.

Torpoint felt they had a good shout for a penalty after nine minutes when Pearson appeared to be wrestled to the ground but the referee said no.

The impressive Joe Rapson then carved out a great opportunity for himself in the 26th minute, but after trying to take the ball around Moore, the keeper stretched to grab it.

Two minutes later Blazey thought they had taken the lead when Elliott ran onto a through ball from Teigan Rosenquest to slide his shot into the net, but a linesman ruled it offside.

Three minutes later Rosenquest found space on the left side of the penalty area and fired a fierce shot towards goal, but it hit the bar and went out of play.

Torpoint responded with a great chance for Rapson in the 44th minute, but he sliced his shot with only Moore to beat.

Ten minutes into the second half Damerell tried a cheeky lob from wide on the left which forced Moore to run back and parry the goal-bound ball away from the target.

The turning point arrived in the 58th minute when Blazey lost commanding defender Aaron Bentley through injury while Torpoint sent on Richards and Gilbert.

It wasn’t long before they combined for Richards to hammer a left foot volley which Moore did well to turn past the post.

But the prolific striker was not to be denied for much longer. Gilbert’s ball from midfield set Richards clear along the right and just before the onrushing Moore could get to him, he slid it past him into the net.

Blazey ended strongly with Tom Hensman desperately close with a 25 yard shot in the 84th minute and as the game moved into time added on, Bowker and Elliott came close to an equaliser.

TORPOINT ATHLETIC: James Morley, Dave Barker, Fred Chapman, Owen Haslam, Callum O’Brien, Elliott Crawford (capt), Joe Rapson (RyanRichards, 58), Rory Simmons, Curtis Damerell (James Rowe, 90+3), Sam Pearson (Max Gilbert, 58), Tom Payne. Subs not used: Sam Hepworth, Adam Carter.

ST BLAZEY: Kyle Moore; Sam Clifton (Ronnie Reynolds, 75), Aaron Bentley (Tom Hensman, 58), Charlie Hambly (capt), Tom Cavanagh, JordanBentley, Noah Maund (Zephan Grigg, 70), Rio Daly (Charlie Menear, 87), Stuart Bowker, Tyler Elliott, Teigan Rosenquest. Sub not used: MacDewsnap (gk).

Men-of-the-match: Torpoint Athletic – Callum O’Brien; St Blazey – Jordan Bentley.