Penryn have Roberts to thank after leaving it late
1:21pm Thursday 28th February 2013 in Sport By Mike Young
Matt Roberts flicks in Penryn's winner on Saturday
Penryn almost let slip a two goal lead against St Dennis on Saturday, only to be rescued by a superb late goal from substitute Matt Roberts.
His audacious backheel with three minutes left to play secured the points for Athletic, but they were almost made to pay for some sloppy defending when St Dennis pulled two goals back after half time to draw level.
With Dale Band and David Blizzard on the injury list, Penryn more or less fielded the same team that had dispatched premier division Torpoint Athletic in the quarter final of the Senior Cup last week.
And picking up where they left off in Devon, the first half belonged to the home side, who enjoyed most of the possession despite St Dennis's Carl Rickard having the first shot on goal with barely ten minutes on the clock when he fired wide.
Penryn came close on several occasions. Hal Davis saw his shot almost creep inside the post, but just as the home side began to get frustrated at their inability to break the deadlock, David Broglino saw his long-range shot beaten out by Brett Allen in the St Dennis goal straight into the path of Kayne Trevaskis, who blasted his shot inside the post from 15 yards out.
A minute later it was two. Gregg Hobbs laid a perfect ball into the path of David Broglino, who drilled a first time effort into the bottom corner from 18 yards out.
After the break St Dennis made changes to their formation. Former St Austell defender Lee Rickard moved into the midfield, and the visitors were suddenly revitalised.
They soon had Penryn in trouble, and on 49 minutes a ball into the box found Scott Hill, who directed a downward header inside the post to put the visitors back in the game.
Penryn keeper Chris Symons was called into action soon after when he was forced to make a good save from Chris Brown’s header, and then somehow survived the ensuing corner which saw a frantic goalmouth scramble during which St Dennis thought they had the ball over the line on three occasions, with Symons eventually tipping the it out for a corner.
The Penryn keeper made another good stop from Lee Rickard, before Hobbs put a shot wide.
In the 74th minute Jason Roberts made way for namesake Matt, but soon after St Dennis were level.
A slick move from wide on the right saw the ball fall for St Dennis skipper Mark Rowe, who tucked away his shot to stun Penryn and level the scores.
Penryn were struggling to cope with St Dennis's physicality, with several visiting players ending up in referee Luke Wilkes' book.
But then with three minutes left, a Hobbs throw in found Davis, who raced to the byline before delivering a low cross into the near post.
And there was Matt Roberts to direct the ball high into the back of the St Dennis net with the back of his heel and ensure that Penryn’s good run of form continues.
