Carlsberg South West peninsula premier

Tavistock AFC 2

Elburton Villa 2

THE Lambs twice came from behind to secure a point against mid table Elburton Villa at Langsford Park. This was a game of two very different performances. The Lambs had two debutants in their squad namely Matt Hatfield and Stuart Morgan.

In the first half the home team were not at the races and Elburton were in control. However in the second period it was the Lambs that dictated the game and looked like they were the side that were going to secure the three points. However over the 90 minute a draw was probably the right result.

Villa really started brightly and deservedly took the lead in the eighth minute - a great passing move on the right by Smith and Aaron Spear split the home defence, allowing Ray Spear to fire pass Jamie Castle from 12 yards.

The home team struggled to get their passing game going and relied on the long ball which was proving wasteful. In a rare attack the Lambs had their first attempt on goal in the 17th minute when Lee Blatchford fired over the bar from 25 yards out.

The visitors then missed a great chance to increase their lead when Spear shot wide from eight yards with the goal at his mercy.

On the half hour the home team produced their first real passing move which resulted in a corner kick. The kick saw a scramble in the goal mouth and skipper Jamie Ahern rammed the ball home from close range.

Ten minutes later Villa restored their lead in bizarre fashion.

The Lambs were awarded a free kick just to the right of their own penalty area, keeper Castle scuffed the kick and the ball went straight to Aaron Spear who calmly obliged, by putting the ball into an empty net from 30 yards.

Both sides had great chance to score in the opening minutes of the second half, with Aaron Spear and Dan Pethick failing to convert. It was now the Lambs that were in the ascendancy, their pass and move game clicked into gear, putting the visitors' defence under considerable pressure.

The Lambs deservedly levelled the scores in the 70th minute when new signing Stuart Morgan took Matt Hatfield's fine pass to round the keeper Simon May and slot home.

In the 80th minute the home team suffered another setback when Dan Pethick was sent off after an off the ball incident. But it was still the Lambs that the more likely to snatch victory but they were denied by some good goal keeping and resolute defending.

After a very disappointing first half performance by the team credit must be given for the way they played in the second half.

The two new signings looked to be great additions to the squad.