Tuesday, September 17

Kit Kitchen South West Peninsula League

Premier West

Liskeard Athletic 1

An exciting game under the excellent new Pennygillam lights saw the Clarets overcome a resilient Liskeard side on Tuesday evening, writes David Harrison.

Launceston eased into a 14th minute lead with a well-worked goal. Sam Watts found space down the left wing and his accurate cross picked out Tom Ellacott who turned and finished neatly from close range.

Shortly after, Launceston skipper Josh McCabe was initially judged to have brought down the lively James Lorenz inside the penalty area, but the officials conferred and the decision was amended to a free-kick, which the home defence cleared.

The Clarets were looking a threat and doubled their lead with a fine 39th minute goal. Sam Watts, Dan Hart and Charlie Hardcastle combined in a move down the left, leaving Ellacott with a shooting opportunity. The striker, in fine goalscoring form, made no mistake and the Clarets reached the break with a 2-0 lead.

The Blues started the second-half on the front foot and reduced the deficit in the 53rd minute when defender Sam Humphries headed home from a corner.

The Clarets were indebted to keeper Josh Colwill who helped preserve the lead with a succession of saves as the visitors enjoyed their best spell of the game.

Just as an equaliser was looking likely, the Clarets broke away and made the points safe in the 76th minute. Defensive hesitancy gave Dan Hart a shooting opportunity and the Launceston midfielder made no mistake from close range.

As the game entered added time, midfielder Mike Steele capped an all-action display with a precise finish to give the Clarets an emphatic and morale-boosting victory.

On the same evening, Launceston found out their opponents for the second-round of the Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup.

Goals from Nathan Bonney and Harry Stevens gave Holsworthy a 2-0 victory over Torrington, to set up a clash at Pennygillam on Tuesday, October 29.

Saturday, September 21

Kit Kitchen South West Peninsula League

Premier West

Launceston 1

Newquay 4

LAUNCESTON were caught cold by a flying start from Newquay on Saturday as they were thrashed 4-1 at Pennygillam, writes David Harrison.

The visitors could have gone in front immediately following kick-off but nevertheless took a deserved seventh minute lead when full-back Ollie Dart capitalised on shoddy defending to poke a close-range shot past Josh Colwill.

Mark Elvidge saw his effort blocked as the Clarets looked to get a foothold in the game but it was mostly one-way traffic and the visitors soon doubled their lead as Aaron Dilley was played through and easily beat Colwill from ten yards.

Ruben Kane, returning to the Clarets from St Blazey, was looking lively and his 25-yard drive flew narrowly wide.

Newquay added a killer third goal on the half-hour. A lack of concentration at the back gave Alex Cole a clear opportunity and he steered his shot past the helpless Colwill.

Launceston just couldn’t get going and Newquay’s impressive Louis Price was controlling midfield. Cole and Dilley both missed clear chances before Cole ended a nightmare half for the Clarets by making it 4-0 on the stroke of half-time.

Manager Gary Jeffery read his side the riot act during the interval and they responded in the right way. Within a minute of the restart Clarets full-back Charlie Hardcastle saw his effort beat visiting keeper Josh Gilbert from distance to reduce the deficit.

The game became wide open with both defences stretched and chances went begging at both ends.

The best sight of the day for Launceston was the return of combative midfielder Andrew Elcock following long-term injury. He came on for the final half-hour and soon demonstrated his fitness with a series of biting tackles and fine long-range passing. His return will provide a major boost to Jeffery’s side.

The Clarets fashioned their best move of the day after 64 minutes. Dan Hart and Kane combined well to create space on the right only for the latter’s 20-yard shot to be superbly saved by Gilbert, touching the ball onto his post and away.

Launceston introduced all three substitutes in the final half-hour but the damage had been done long before.

The final chance fell to Cole who passed up the opportunity to complete his hat-trick when it looked easier to score.This was a chastening afternoon for the Clarets, following their excellent midweek victory over Liskeard. They’ll want to get their season back on track when they make the long trip to Porthleven on Saturday (3pm).