CARADON 2 DUCHY 1

A late penalty corner strike from Leon Farrow was enough to snatch all three points for Caradon and shock Duchy.

The Black-and-Whites had taken the lead in the open exchanges when the front three of Bennetts, Crump and McKenzie combined for the latter to tap home from close range, however carless defending at the other end of the park would ultimately cost Duchy their spot in the promotion places.

Whilst Duchy could have extended their advantage at various points during the first half, wasteful attacking, combined with a number of solid saves from Toby Riddle in the Caradon net, limited the score to 1-0, and when Caradon won a penalty corner in the run up to the interval the home side drew level.

An uncomplicated set piece routine from the home side looked to have been dealt with when Richardson saved from Leon Farrow, however Caradon captain, Martin Batty, was quickest to react and pounced on the rebound to fire home before the Duchy defence could clear.

After the break, Duchy still looked frail at the back, although did create a number of opportunities in the attacking third with Ben Noakes and Alex Roberts both providing ammunition for the forwards, however Caradon again kept the visitors at bay and with thirteen minutes remaining picked up the goal that would season an unlikely win.

When the goal came it was from another set piece, with Leon Farrow firing a straight shot into the corner of the net – albeit with a helping hand from a deflection – to take the score to 2-1, before controversy ensued in the final moments.

With four minutes remaining it appeared that Duchy had rescued a point, when a goal mouth scramble after a penalty corner saw will McKenzie bundle the ball home for what looked to be his second goal.

As the teams prepared for the restart, the umpires conferred and concluded that the ball had run out of play during the build-up, leaving Duchy only two minutes to find an equaliser.

Caradon held on to aid their effort to avoid relegation, whilst the result leaves Duchy training the top two sides in the division.

Duchy: Richardson (gk), Wilkes, Pound, Allen, Noakes, Bandara, Roberts, Chippett (c.), McKenzie, Crump, Rafferty. Player/Manager: Bennetts. Man of the Match, sponsored by TSI Group: Alex Roberts.

Penzance B 4 Duchy A 3 Despite a hat-trick from man-of-the match, Pete Allen, ten-man Duchy A succumbed to a 4-3 friendly defeat at Penzance B.

Two of Allen’s three goals came in the opening period, with Duchy racing into a 2-0 lead inside the first quarter, although Louis Christopher pulled a goal pack for the home side just before the interval after pouncing on a rebound and slotting the ball home.

Duchy looked the stronger of the two sides in the opening period, with on-loan Harvey Richards putting in a sterling performance in defence; however having already played thirty-five minutes with a man extra, Penzance began to threaten in the second half.

Both Ricky Birch and Jeremy Wall made goal-line clearances to keep Duchy 2-1 ahead, however with just over ten minutes to go a missed interception by Richardson allowed James Richards to cross to cross for Christopher to slide in and tap home his second to take the score to 2-2.

Almost immediately from the restart Penzance pulled ahead when Simon Richards broke through the Duchy back line to fire home, and a third goal in ten minutes – this time from James Richards, who was also gifted a goal by Richardson – effectively put the game out of reach for the visitors.

Duchy still found time to pull to within a goal when Allen wrapped up his hat-trick with three minutes remaining; however it was too little, too late for the black-and-whites, and Penzance B held out for a 4-3 victory.

Duchy: Richardson (gk), Wall, Birch, Richards, Russel, Wilkes, Allen, Ettling (c.), Crump, Bennetts. Man of the Match: Pete Allen