Saltash United 4, Falmouth Town 3

Falmouth Town surrendered an early two-goal lead to lose 4-3 at Saltash United in the SWPL Premier on Saturday.

Town led inside seven minutes thanks to strikes from Jack Bowyer and Luke Brabyn, but the Ashes were level by half-time with Sam Hughes and Ryan Richards netting.

Saltash turned the game on its head after the break with Hughes grabbing his second, before Richards also secured another to give the hosts a two-goal cushion.

Jordan Annear got one back for Falmouth late on but it wasn't enough to prevent their first defeat since the opening day of the season.

Town were able to select midfielder David Broglino after his red card in last week's 3-1 win over Torpoint Athletic was rescinded after he was mistakenly sent off, with Tom Annear instead receiving the three-match ban.

Bowyer put Town in front after five minutes when he raced onto Joe Cooper's long ball and fired a powerful shot into the bottom corner.

Brabyn made it 2-0 barely a minute later when he beat Saltash goalkeeper Ryan Rickard to a long ball and dribbled it into the empty net.

The hosts halved the deficit on 34 minutes when Hughes took advantage of some hesitance among the visiting defence and nipped in to fire past Town goalkeeper Ryan Barnes.

Saltash were level five minutes later when Richards hammered home from close range after his initial effort rebounded back to him.

The Ashes completed the turnaround with 15 minutes to go when Hughes got the better of the Town defence once again before slotting past Barnes.

Richards extended the hosts' advantage with five minutes to go when he stepped past two challenges before driving into the net from just inside the box.

Falmouth made the home side sweat when Annear struck late on from a corner kick but the Ashes held on to deliver Town's second defeat of the season.

Falmouth: R Barnes, D Blizzard, O Moody (R Martt 65), M Duff, J Cooper, J Ward, L Brabyn, D Broglino, J Bowyer, J Annear, H Clarke (T Nixon 53). Subs (unused): A Williams, A Westgarth.

  • Falmouth begin their FA Vase campaign on Saturday when Western League Premier club Clevedon visit Bickland Park (kick-off 3pm).