A GOAL early in each half from Lewis Couch condemned Holsworthy to defeat in East Devon.

The whistle had barely gone when Tom Perryman’s pass from the left was latched on to by Couch who got in behind the defence and toe-poked a deft finish past Ryan Chadwick.

The rest of the first-half saw both sides cancel each other out with Jed Harper-Penman’s off-target free-kick the closest the Magpies came to a leveller.

Holsworthy’s failure to switch from the start cost them dear at the start of the second-half as a whipped ball from the left was superbly crashed in at the back-post by Couch.

Manager Liam Dart sent Lee Gardiner up front in a bid to get back into it, and it seemed to liven the Magpies up, who should have scored.

Good work from Harry Stevens and Marc Bettiss set up debutant Nathan Coates, however he failed to make proper contact and the chance went amiss.

Stevens also headed a corner over the bar, but it wasn’t to be.

One boost for the Magpies was the return of Carlo Chandler who played the whole game after returning from a lengthy injury.

Holsworthy host fellow strugglers Stoke Gabriel on Saturday (3pm), looking to pull further clear of bottom two Sidmouth Town and Torrington and move level on points with the South Devon side.

TWO superb long-range strikes proved the difference as Camelford were undone by Falmouth Town at Trefrew Park.

The Camels started brightly but fell behind on the quarter-hour as Luke Johnson just got his foot to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Luke Gwillam from a cross before netting from a tight angle.

Winger Kian Burns has been on fire this season for the North Cornwall side and he brought them level with a piece of individual brilliance, beating a number of players from the halfway line before finding the bottom corner from 20 yards.

The rest of the first-half was even before two screamers from Ryan Chinn and full-back Scott Kellow proved decisive. Chinn drove in from the edge of the box before Kellow’s speculative shot flashed past Gwillam from all over 30 yards.

The Camels continued to play well and twice went close in the opening five minutes of the second-half. First, Matt Andrew’s shot was well saved by Ryan Barnes down to his right before Ed Harrison should have done better from close-range.

Gwillam kept the hosts in it when he blocked Jordan Annear’s shot after he was sent clean through, before another dazzling Burns run ended with referee Andy Glanville pointing to the spot.

Harrison’s penalty just beat Barnes to set up an intriguing final ten minutes, however they were denied a point when Andrew’s shot was cleared off the line.

Camelford manager Reg Hambly admitted Falmouth’s forwards made the difference.

He said: “It was a good game of football from both sides and I think everyone enjoyed it. I thought a draw would have been a fair result, but they were that bit sharper up front.”

Camelford are at home again on Saturday, with mid-table Porthleven the visitors (3pm).

A CONTENTIOUS second-half penalty consigned ten-man Callington to a 2-1 defeat at Porthleven, who picked up their first victory on home turf since August.

Callington were the better team in the first-half with winger Andre Rodukov looking particularly dangerous.

They eventually took the lead when a cross was headed in at the back-post by Lee Robinson.

However within a couple of minutes the complexion of the game changed as Ryan Lucassi was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Glanville for bringing down Joe Wright as the former Helston Athletic striker latched on to a throughball.

The visitors complained furiously as to why it was worthy of a red card while Porthleven believed that the foul took place inside the box.

However, the hosts drew level from the resulting free-kick as Dan Stidwell’s effort beat Sam Borthwick and flew into the top corner.

Callington dug in manfully and were dangerous on the break. Tommy Norton struck the crossbar while Robinson shot just wide.

Port were awarded a spot-kick with 12 minutes to go when stand-in centre-half John Wyatt was adjudged to have handled Matt Fox’s cross. Wright beat Borthwick and although Callington again rallied, the hosts held on.

Callington welcome Launceston on Saturday in a rearranged game from Boxing Day (3pm).