Carlsberg South West Peninsula premier

Tavistock AFC 3

Witheridge 1

THE Lambs bounced back from their heavy defeat at Tiverton in mid week, with a dominating performance over a plucky Witheridge team, who were outplayed for long periods. The man of the match performance by visiting goalkeeper Joe Tickle, who made a string of terrific saves, kept the score line respectable.

Tickle made three great saves in the opening 15 minutes to deny Ricki Shepherd, Glynn Hobbs and Jack Crago from scoring. In the 20th minute a fine move saw Luke Brown find Shepherd his good cross into the six yard box was inches out of the reach of the on rushing Crago. Three minutes later a Glynn Hobbs shot was cleared off the goal line and, following good work by Crago, a Luke Brown thunderbolt was pushed onto the bar by Tickle and bounced out to safety.

The Lambs finally broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when a corner kick was partially cleared by the visitors’ defence the ball was returned into the penalty area where Ben Cross was on hand to slot the ball home.

A defensive mix up by the home team allowed Rob Knight to find the far corner of the net from 18 yards for a surprise equaliser. Shepherd then had a fine effort cleared off the goal line, before both Crago and Hobbs spurned chances to restore the lead.

Tavistock continued to dominate the game from the start of the second half and straight from the kick off a fine move saw a Crago shot deflected for a corner kick from which Dan Evans’ header was inches over the bar.

In the 48th minute the Lambs took the lead when Glynn Hobbbs found Jack Crago with a fine pass; Crago produced a telling cross that resulted in Ben Cross slotting the ball home from six yards.

Joe Tickle then pulled off a number of great saves to deny Crago, Hobbs, Shepherd and Brown, in order to prevent the Lambs taking a commanding lead. The home team got their reward when they extended their lead in the 71st minute when Glynn Hobbs outpaced the defence before taking the ball around the advancing keeper and slot the ball home.

Two minutes later the Lambs were awarded a penalty for a hand ball in the penalty area, but Ben Cross saw his powerful shot brilliantly turned round the post for a corner kick, denying him from completing his hat- trick. The home failed to add to their goal tally as Tickle pulled off fine saves to deny Rowe, and Hobbs from scoring, as the Lambs recorded another victory.

This was a good team performance by the Lambs, and had it not been for an outstanding goal keeping by Joe Tickle it would have been a landslide. However, there were a number of attempts that never found the target, so their finishing has to be more clinical against the top teams.

Lambs’ man of the match Ben Cross was outstanding along with a number of other fine performances.