Carlsberg South West Peninsula

Tavistock AFC 0

Falmouth Town 1

ANY outside chance of the Tavistock retaining the premier league title were blown away last week when they lost to Falmouth Town by the only goal.

The game began with the Lambs having the better of the early exchanges with Josh Grant going close to opening the scoring. The home side continued to press forward and a good move saw a fierce shot well saved by Barns in the Falmouth goal.

In the 20th minute Barns produced another great save to deny Cairo from opening the scoring for the Lambs. Lambs were now dominating the game creating several scoring opportunities; a great cross from Josh Robins saw Warren Daw head inches over the bar. Cairo then shot into the side netting from an acute angle.

On the half hour Lambs’ captain Lewis Daw pulled up with a muscle problem and could take no further part in the game. Warren Daw dropped into the back four with Tyler Elliot coming on in midfield.

Falmouth’s first real scoring opportunity came in the 40th minute when Nickson shot over the bar when well placed.

Just before the interval a good move saw Robins in on goal and he went down inside the box – Tavistock appealed for what they believed to be a stone wall penalty but the referee decided otherwise and booked Robins for diving.

The Lambs continued to create chances but could not find that illusive breakthrough as the half remained goalless.

The second half continued with Tavistock striving to get the opening goal, but the well drilled Falmouth defence were difficult to break down. The visitors were also looking dangerous on the counter attack, In the 54th minute Martin shot over the bar from 18 yards.

Eleven minutes later a terrific shot from Tyler Elliot was brilliantly saved by Barns in the visitors’ goal.

Falmouth continued to be physical, with a number of robust challenges going unpunished, which resulted in a very scrappy period in the game. The Lambs were becoming more and more frustrated by some the officials decisions, which resulted in their passing game being continually disrupted by foul challenges.

When they did create chances, Barns was in terrific form denying them again and again.

The bitter blow for the home side came in the 84th minute when Tavistock were awarded a spot kick when Crago was dragged to the ground. Grant’s powerful spot kick was saved by Barns; the ball fell for Cooper whose long clearance found Martin who provided the perfect cross for Webb to head home and give Falmouth the lead.

The Lambs pressed for the equaliser but the visitors rode their luck and saw the game out to record a fortunate victory.

Football can be a cruel game at times, particularly when you do not get the result your play deserves, but the game is about scoring goals, and sadly the Lambs missed too many scoring opportunities in this game.

This was a very disappointing performance from Tavistock with the team playing well below the high standard they have set this season. The team must now bounce back in order to finish in the top four.

Unfortunately for Tavistock AFC the local derby on Saturday away to Callington FC was cancelled due to the weather.