Carlsberg South West Peninsula premier Tavistock AFC 1

Exmouth Town 2

THE Lambs suffered their first home defeat this season when they lost by the odd goal in three. With keeper Josh Oak not available, veteran and stalwart Andy Meeds took over in goal. After a fairly even start it was the visitors that got the early break through in the eighth minute.

After good build up play, a fierce shot from Cooper could only be parried by Andy Meeds, the rebound fell into the path of Ace High who flashed the ball home from 12 yards. Two minutes later Glynn Hobbs was brought down 22 yards from goal, his shot on goal was cleared for a corner kick; the corner kick resulted in a Lewis Daw header cleared off the goal line.

Things got worse for Tavistock when Shane Krac was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge. Two minutes later a challenge on Tavistock’s Ben Cross, which the home side considered worse than Krac’s challenge, resulted in a yellow card for the away player.

Even with ten men the Lambs rallied and continued to hold their own and deservedly equalised in the 36th minute, when Josh Robins and Glynn Hobbs exchanged passes to split open the Exmouth defence; Robins flashed the ball low into the far corner of the net from 18 yards. Play continued to flow from end to end and just before the interval Warren Daw saw his shot from 18 yards flash inches past the far post.

The second half saw Exmouth on the front foot, a great challenge by Josh Robins denied Cooper from giving the visitors the lead. Back came the Lambs as Ben Cross and  Warren Daw created an opportunity for Ricki Shepherd, but his shot was just off target.

Rosenquest replaced Shepherd on the hour, he had an immediate effect as he found Hobbs with a beautiful pass, but his cross right across the face of the Exmouth goal was inches out of the reach of Luke Brown.

The game continued to remain in the balance with the Lambs more than holding their own, but as the game got into the later stages the home team understandably began to run out of steam.

A great cross from the right saw Meeds produce a great save to push the ball away, but the ball fell kindly for Charron to turn home to give the visitors the lead. The Lambs were not done yet and just two minutes later a thunderous shot from Luke Brown was well saved by Wright.

Rosenquest then made a great pass to put Hobbs in on goal but a flag was raised for off side. The home team had given everything, but as to be expected the visitors finished the stronger in the last ten minutes, with Durrum missing a golden opportunity in the 90th minute.

The Lambs can be proud of their performance, playing with 80 minutes with ten men. They more than held their own for long periods and could with a little bit of luck a least have earned a draw. The team now needs to bounce back from this setback and take the positives from the game.