Carlsberg South West Peninsular league cup
Saltash United 2
Tavistock 2
(Tavistock won 3-2 on penalties)
THE Lambs' manager and a former manager of the Ashes had a great return to Kimberly Stadium as his side came out on top against the Premiership club in a really entertaining game.
The win sees Tavistock visit St Austell in the 16 in the League cup competition.
The Lambs were without the services of their influential mid-fielder Dave Hallett through injury and Jarryd Kelly who is recovering from illness.
Both teams were quick out of the blocks and play flowed from end to end, but it was the Lambs that came closest to scoring in the opening minutes when after a fine move down the right flank the ball fell to Clark but his fine drive from 20 yards flew just wide of the target.
In the 19th minute Saltash were awarded a penalty when Luke Rundle was adjudged to have fouled Hughes in the penalty area. Martin Piper made a great save from the spot kick taken by Toby Clark.
Ten minutes later the home team were awarded another penalty when Sam Hughes was again adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area. This time Clark made no mistake from the spot kick as he drilled the ball past Martin Piper.
The visitors continued to have a fair share of the play and asked several questions of the home defence but they were a difficult unit to break down. The Lambs had a number of attacks which looked promising but it was the quality of the final ball that was letting them down.
The Lambs equalised in the 43rd minute when home keeper Tom Blackler dropped the ball following a corner kick, and Kelvin Fyneboy was on hand to prod the ball home from three yards.
The Lambs started the second half well and played some really attractive football with Farnham, Clark and Fyneboy causing the home defence some problems with their penetrating runs down the right, However, it was the home team that almost restored their lead in the 50th minute when a good move down resulted in a fine cross finding Maddison but his shot clipped the cross bar for a goal kick.
The Lambs continued to play well in this evenly matched game between two good sides. It was the visitors that took the lead on the hour when following another fine move Kelvin Fyneboy upended in the penalty area by the centre half, and Luke Rundle made no mistake from the spot kick.
The Lambs then had a couple of chances to increase their lead when Blackler made a brilliant save to deny Fyneboy and then denied Farnham with another block.
The Ashes equalised in the 75th minute when the home team were awarded a free kick. Dave Trott stepped up and blasted an unstoppable shot from 20 yards. Play continued to flow from end to end with both teams trying to get the winner in the 90 minutes, but neither team could break down the strong defences.
The Lambs probably had the edge in the first period of extra time and Blackler was again called into action to make a fine save from Kevin Kendall in the 100th minute.
The second period of extra time produced no goals, but both teams tried their best to ensure that the tie did not go to a penalty shoot out. Dan Follett saw a couple of efforts go over the bar, while at the other end Piper was called on to make a couple of good saves. Then the Ashes were off target when a cross from the left found Sam Farrant but he shot wide.
The Lambs almost settled it in the dying minutes when, after a fine move, Blackler pulled off another really good save to deny Luke Doddridge from scoring.
The game went to a penalty shoot out but both teams failing convert their spot kicks - a total of seven penalties were taken by each team but the Lambs came out on top by three goals to two. There were four consecutive spot kicks hat never hit the target, two from each side, and it was down to Martin Piper to make the save to see the Lambs through to the next round.