Carlsberg South West Peninsula Premier

Tavistock AFC 3

Godolphin Atlantic 2

TAVISTOCK manager Stuart Henderson had to make changes due to injuries and a suspension for Josh Robins.

New signing Matt David came into the centre of defence.

The Lambs got off to really good start, opening the scoring in the third minute. A fine move resulted in Tyler Elliot finishing with aplomb from eight yards.

The home side then paid the penalty for not dealing with two set piece kicks. The first came in the 15th minute when from a free kick the ball was only partially cleared; a scramble took place and Roberts was on hand to take advantage a fire the ball home from ten yards. The second came in the 25th minute when another defensive error resulted in Shepherd taking advantage to slot the ball home from close range to give Godolphin the lead. Then on the half hour, the Lambs suffered further injury problems when Hughes turned an ankle and could take no further part; he was replaced by McCaulley. This setback upset the Lambs’ play as they tried to push for an equaliser. They struggled to find their normal fluent passing game, giving the ball away in the final third of the pitch, so the interval came with Godolphin leading 2-1.

The Lambs increased the tempo of their game in the second half. In the visitors’ goal, Fearn pushed a fierce shot from Josh Grant over the bar. From the corner kick Bailey Williams saw his header go inches wide of the target. Tavistock were really applying a lot of pressure on the Godolphin defence – both Josh Grant and Matt David saw efforts go wide of the target, before a Tallan Burns shot was brilliantly saved by Fearn.

On the hour Tavistock made two substitutions, with Liam Prynn replacing Williams and Jack Crago replacing Burns. Minutes later the Lambs deservedly equalised when Dave Hallett provided the perfect cross for Jack Crago to plant a fine header into the far top corner of the net. Minutes later the same player dragged his shot inches wide of the target following good work by Grant and Elliot.

The Lambs were now dominant, with the visitors restricted to isolated counter attacks. In one such attack Tippett forced a good save out of Josh Oak in the home goal. Tavistock created chance after chance but Fearn in the visitors’ goal made several really good saves. However, the Lambs’ constant attack on the Godolphin defence finally paid off. In the 88th minute a free kick taken by Dave Hallett resulted in man of the match Warren Daw providing the finishing touch for the home side to take a well deserved lead.

The Lambs were disappointing in the first half but the intensity of their play in the second saw them return to their high standards and they deservedly earned this important victory.

Manager Henderson said: ‘Confidence is a massive factor in football and sometimes things conspire against you. Two errors in the first half got punished, despite starting the game well. A few things were sorted out at half time, and we were camped in their half for the majority of the second. The lads kept going and got their rewards with a late finish from captain Warren Daw to record a deserved victory.’