THE eagerly-awaited fixture between the top two sides in the East Cornwall Under-15 League, Liskeard and Newquay, turned out to be a real cracker.

Newquay started the stronger and forced the Blues to defend for long periods of the first half.

The Liskeard defence remained resolute, however, with Ed Laslett and Jo Raggett particularly prominent, ably supported by Ben Ackland and Blake Penhaligan.

The Blues had goalkeeper Ross Drinkell to thank for three outstanding saves towards the end of the half to ensure it remained scoreless at the break.

Hard-working centre forward Ben Gaynor combined well with the Liskeard midfield to create several half-chances of their own, but only had Sean Ead's effort – which was well blocked by the Newquay keeper – to show for their efforts.

Liskeard were a different team for the first 25 minutes of the second period and deservedly took the lead when skipper Jack Quaintance played a superb pass to Sam Vine, who returned the favour, leaving Quaintance to beat the advancing keeper and score into the bottom corner.

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