Carlsberg South West Peninsula premier

Tavistock AFC 2

Saltash United 2

A GOOD sized crowd last Friday night witnessed a really exciting Lambs encounter with Saltash.

The game was frenetic with plenty of goal mouth action which kept both sets of supporters on the edge of their seats. Both teams could claim that decisions made by the officials went against them but by the end of the game these probably evened themselves out, so the two teams shared the points.

The Lambs were fast out of the blocks and took the game to the visitors and they were rewarded with this positive start when they opened their account in the fourth minute. Martin Sullivan made a fine run down the right flank, and delivered a great cross in the penalty area, where Dan Pethick just failed to make contact, and the ball fell into the path of debutant Micheal Dalley, who fired home past Grant Fisher from seven yards.

The visitors then showed their attacking prowess when Andy Meeds tipped a fierce drive from Sam Wright over the bar to prevent an 18th minute equaliser.

The Lambs then put a great passing move together resulting in Sullivan having a great strike for goal parried by Fisher in the 21st minute.

The game continued to flow from end to end with both sides playing at a very high tempo.

In the 28th minute the visitors equalised when Ben Smallridge, making a fine run from the middle of the park, released Sam Hughes at the right moment, and the in-form striker made no mistake and drilled a low angled drive which gave Meeds no chance.

The Lambs then produced two great moves — first Dan Pethick took the ball past two defenders and hit a tremendous shot which just went over with the goalkeeper well beaten. Micheal Dalley then produced a great run down the left flank produced a beautiful cross into the box that just evaded the on coming forwards.

Just before the interval Dan Pethick had another great strike parried by the visitors keeper - the ball was partially cleared only to find Sullivan on the edge of the box but his first time effort just cleared the crossbar.

The second half followed a similar pattern with both sides producing some real quality football. Meeds was in action to make a very good save from Smallridge. Pethick then had a terrific shot which just went wide of the far post with the keeper well beaten.

The Lambs took control for a period and then regained the lead in the 59th minute when Dan Pethick broke into the box and unleashed an unstoppable shot from an acute angle which flew pass Fisher like a bullet in the net.

Within a minute the visitors were level when Chris Head lost the ball in midfield and with everyone pressing forward; there were acress of pace for Wright to take advantage of, he side stepped one challenge and hit a magnificent shot from 30 yards which dipped viciously and settled in the top corner of the net.

Then in the 78th minute the Lambs had what they claimed was a blatant hand ball by Menheick in the penalty area turned down by the referee.

Both sides continued to press for a winner and in the last seconds of the game it looked as if the visitors had scored after a corner kick; the ball bounced around in the box before Dave Smith shot home from a yard from the goal line. However the linesman flagged for an infringement to rule out the effort; seconds later the final whistle blew.

After the heavy defeat at Bodmin the previous week this was a very good performance and shows the side does have character.

The return of Neal Kinsman to the club, who had a very good game and new player Micheal Dalley, was a threat to the visitors defence throughout the game. Performances like this will see the team climb the league table.