Falmouth Town 3, Torpoint Athletic 1

NINE-MAN Falmouth Town held onto top spot in the SWPL Premier after beating Torpoint 3-1 at Bickland Park on Saturday.

Matt Buchan’s deflected effort gave Town the lead on 26 minutes before Martyn Duff doubled the advantage just before half-time.

Buchan then picked up two yellow cards early in the second half before Torpoint’s Lee Bevan and Town’s David Broglino saw red following a scuffle.

Sam Morgan pulled a goal back for Torpoint from the spot before Jack Bowyer sealed the win in injury-time.

The win is Town's sixth in a row since losing 4-1 to St Austell in their opening game of the season on August 11.

Town took the lead in fortuitous fashion in the 26th minute with Buchan’s 20-yard effort taking a wild deflection over goalkeeper Brodie Cole.

But Torpoint almost replied instantly with Ryan Barnes having to make a flying save to tip Lee Bevan’s free-kick away from the top corner.

Falmouth then went two up on the stroke of half-time with Duff turning Jordan Annear’s powerful strike into the net.

The second half started poorly for Town as Buchan picked up two yellows within a couple of minutes, before Broglino followed him a few minutes later following a 22-man melee in the Torpoint box, with visiting captain Bevan also having an early bath.

Morgan halved the deficit from the spot with 15 minutes to go when substitute Gary Hird was brought down in the box, with Torpoint then eager to make the most of their numerical advantage and push for the equaliser.

They came within a crossbar's width of doing so in the 89th minute when Scott Blatchford's edge-of-the-box effort looked set to kiss the back of the net, but Barnes managed to tip it onto the bar with Connor Rush unable to convert the rebound when it fell to his feet.

But Town went on to win it in the 95th minute when substitute Olly Walker used his trademark pace to break free before squaring to Bowyer to score his first goal for the club.

Falmouth: R Barnes, D Blizzard, O Moody (O Walker 81), M Duff, J Cooper, T Annear, L Brabyn, D Broglino, M Buchan, J Annear (J Bowyer 71), H Clarke (R Martt 63). Subs (unused): T Nixon, A Westgarth.

Torpoint: B Cole, J McCabe, L Bevan, S Morgan, J Heveran (S Rogers 7), E Crawford, S Blatchford, R Simmons, C Rush, D Zalick (G Hird 69), S Hill. Subs (unused): T Ogden, J Robertson, J Peters.

  • Town visit Saltash United in the SWPL Premier on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).