Clarets endure tough afternoon at promotion hopefuls Penzance

LAUNCESTON were unable to build on successive home victories as title-chasing Penzance put seven past the Clarets without reply at Penlee Park.

On a superb surface in West Cornwall, the game opened in heavy rain with the Clarets the first to threaten. Inside the opening five minutes, home keeper Harry Salmon had to dive full-length to keep his goal intact but generally it was one-way traffic with the home team dominant.

After seven minutes Penzance moved in front with a superb goal. Hayden Waters delivered a perfect cross from the left, met with a towering header by Ewan Trevains.

The rain stopped and Launceston briefly gained some worthwhile midfield possession, only for Lewis Caspall to double the lead with another fine effort. The same man soon added a third and the Clarets, despite customary heroics from keeper Howie Evans, were looking at a long afternoon.

The second half opened with the home side increasingly dominant. Evans made a superb intervention to deny Archie Reynolds, only for the excellent Charlie Willis to pop up with his customary goal against the Clarets.

Remarkably, Willis scored again inside a minute, before completing his first-ever Penzance hat-trick, all scored within a ten-minute spell.

Launceston heads didn’t drop and, with Kian Berry on to help Lee Robinson up-front, they kept the Magpies defence busy. However insult was added to injury deep into added time when substitute Ollie Butler crashed home an unstoppable 25-yard drive.

It had been a chastening afternoon, but Launceston’s season will not be defined by results against the likes of this impressive Penzance side.

LAUNCESTON: Howie Evans; Sam Tattersall, Dylan Rangecroft, James Simmonds (capt), Jude Jago, Denham Guild, George Bills, Tom Bullock, Lee Robinson, Louis Taylor, Sonny Dover. Subs: Ryan Dawe, Kaiet Rasche, Kian Berry, Luke Gibbons, Mike Steele.