Penryn Athletic battled back from a goal down at home to Holsworthy to stay in touch with league leaders Newquay at the top of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League division one (west).

Ashley Thomas, making the step up from the reserves side, was the hero for Penryn as he fired in a 72nd minute winner to condemn struggling Holsworthy to their 11th defeat of the campaign.

High-flying Penryn went into the match hoping to recover from their closely-fought away loss to Perranporth the previous week.

They approached the match in confident mood as, since being relegated last season from the CSWPL premier division, Holsworthy haven’t been able to stamp their mark on, the division one (west).

Consequently, Penryn went into the game as overall favourites and, being the league’s top scorers, were expected to win comfortably.

However, this was not to be the case. From the whistle, Holsworthy made their attacking intentions very clear: and played some dynamic, free-flowing, football.

This caught the home team off guard whose frenetic and physical defending characterised the early minutes of the match. But Penryn soon settled and almost took the lead with a thunderous shot from stand-in captain Hal Davis after 13 minutes.

Penryn then began to dictate the midfield and easily sprayed uncontested balls out to the wings and up field.

However, Holsworthy defended tenaciously and got the reward for their early attacking play on the half-hour mark. The own-goal came from a swift counter-attack, with a cross from the right connecting with the hapless Davis, whose outstretched foot brushed the ball past his goalkeeper Symon Winnan.

This lead lasted a mere two minutes though. A sparkling run from Penryn’s Ben Williams led to a goal as he beat the Holsworthy back line, before curling the ball around goalkeeper Ryan Walter’s desperate lunge from the edge of the penalty area.

This meant the half ended as it had started, with both sides battling in a disjointed game as they attempted to take a lead into the break.

This play continued into the second half, as a busy Davis was booked for a crunching challenge. But, out of the chaos, Holsworthy emerged on top and had a good chance to take the lead when Alan Clarke’s diving header brought a fine reflex save from Winnan.

Holsworthy built on this with Dean Chidley firing wide ten minutes later and nearly converting a goalkeeping error after 70 minutes.

However, against the run of play, a fantastic strike from Penryn’s Ashley Thomas gave his team the lead after 72 minutes. It came from a mazy run up the right wing, from Thomas, before he stepped inside and hit a well-struck, skidding shot into the bottom-left corner. The final ten minutes saw a return to the earlier scrappiness, with tackles flying in and a dubious penalty shout from Holsworthy’s Chris Ward in the 89th minute, a sign of how desperate his side were to get something from the match.

This wasn’t to be and, whilst Penryn are looking comfortable at the right end of the league, Holsworthy, despite their impressive and spirited performance at Kernick, continue to struggle.