Duchy four Gunnislake Reserves 3 Looe Reserves 1 LOOE started brightly and were the better team in the opening five minutes. But it was the Looe keeper who was first called into action. Gunnislake?s first attack ended with a decent Andy Southcott shot that the visiting keeper saved at his near post. Minutes later a poor goal kick by the Looe keeper went straight to Southcott whose low 25-yarder was turned around the post by the keeper diving full length to his left. From the resultant corner Southcott?s goalbound header was cleared off the line by a Looe defender. A 25-minute period followed in which both teams cancelled out each other and penalty area action was virtually nil but for a few speculative crosses that neither defence was troubled by. But as half-time approached Gunnislake twice came close to scoring. Mark Southcott crossed and Darren Woolley headed against the bar before a mazy run by Mike Fitze saw him pick out Neil Kinger and his 16-yard strike forced a third good save from the Looe keeper. The opening 20 minutes of the second half were a start stop affair as a few players went down with injuries. Play suffered and neither team settled until the midway part of the period. Gunnislake opened the scoring - a good effort from the left side of the penalty area by Fitze was parried away to Pavel Honrik who from the opposite side of the box cut inside his marker before firing into the far bottom corner. Soon after Matt Avery?s quick thinking to take a short free kick enabled Mike Vanstone to play a one-two with Fitze before firing over the bar. Fifteen minutes from time a Mark Southcott clearance found Fitze who out-muscled his marker to find the bottom corner from some 20 yards. On 81 minutes Looe halved the deficit and minutes later were denied an equaliser when Steve Gaggini cleared off the line. A nervy few minutes followed until a Nathan Dore effort rebounded off the post enabling Fitze to tap home the rebound. l This Saturday the reserves are without a fixture while Gunnislake?s Duchy Premier side return to action after a week off. The premier side welcome St Stephens Borough for a first round tie in the Cornwall Junior Cup. Saints will arrive with a 100% winning league record and so Gunnislake will need to be at their best if they are to at least repeat last season?s performance in this cup which saw them reach the area final.
