Torpoint knocked out of the FA Vase by Honiton Town

TORPOINT Athletic were on the end of one of the upsets of the round on Saturday when South West Peninsula League Premier East side Honiton deservedly won at The Mill.

A goal scored late in each half from Aaron Pearse and Jordan Harris to put the East Devon side through to the first round proper for the first time in their history.

The men from The Mill had to play an hour with 10 men after central defender Callum O’Brien was shown a harsh red card.

Torpoint manager Dean Cardew said: “It was another bitterly disappointing game from our point of view. Honiton were well organised and limited us to very few chances.

“Then we conceded a goal right on half-time which gave us an even bigger task and we just weren’t good enough to get ourselves back in the game.

“Credit to Honiton – and we have to move on to Wednesday night away to St Blazey.”

In the fifth minute of Saturday’s tie, the visitors thought they had taken the lead. Aaron Pearse was played through and fired home past Ty Rowe, but an assistant referee raised his flag for offside.

Five minutes later Pearse again had another effort on goal, but this time it was saved by Rowe.

Torpoint responded, creating some good chances from Joe Rapson and Ryan Downing.

But on the half-hour, O’Brien saw red for his adjudged challenge on a visiting player, with O’Brien and other Torpoint players protesting about the decision.

Minutes later, Torpoint broke clear of the visiting defence, Ryan Downing latched on to the ball, but his effort from 20 yards was well saved by visiting keeper Jacob O’Callaghan.

Just before the break Honiton took the lead. Fin Newell won the ball off Elliott Crawford by the corner flag and sent in a superb cross into the box which found Pearse who headed home.

Two minutes after the restart, Honiton’s Newell had an effort from 10 yards which was tipped around the post by Rowe.

Just past the hour, good build-up play by the Torpoint midfield found Rapson, but his shot from distance went over the bar.

In the final quarter of an hour the Cornishmen pushed for an equaliser. In the 74th minute Dave Barker played the ball through to Gary Hird, who tried to the lob the keeper, but O’Callaghan just managed to grab the ball.

Three minutes later Sam Hepworth had a header which was well-saved, and in the final 10 minutes, Barker had a shot somehow scrambled off the line by the Honiton keeper.

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Honiton made sure of their passage through to the next round. Harris saw Rowe off his line and lobbed him from 40 yards, sparking wild celebrations from the visitors.

After Torpoint’s trip to St Blazey on Wednesday night in the Western League Premier Division, the Point head to promotion-chasing Portishead Town who have won four of their five outings.

TORPOINT ATHLETIC: Ty Rowe; Dave Barker, Sam Hepworth (Darren Hicks, 79), Sam Morgan (Owen Haslam, 59), Callum O’Brien, Elliott Crawford (capt), James Rowe, Ryan Downing (Tom Payne, 59), Joe Rapson (Sam Pearson, 79), Gary Hird, Lewis Flowers (Josh Scargill, 77).

Torpoint Athletic man-of-the-match: Sam Morgan.