Falmouth Town title hopes took another blow on Saturday as a lacklustre performance saw them lose 1-0 away at struggling Witheridge.

It was the first game in charge of Witheridge for new manager John Cornforth, who had previously been with Exeter and Torquay.

He saw his side end a run of three league games without a victory with a non-stop display.

The weather around Witheridge’s Edge Down Park was so gloomy and misty that referee Lee Roberts asked for the floodlights to be on from the start.

Steve Ebdy gave a taste of what was to come as early as the fifth minute when he ran along the right flank and cut in on goal, but Jason Chapman was out quickly to smother his shot.

A few minutes later the home side had a free-kick 25 yards out, which was partially cleared out to Michael Broome and he hit a crisp, low shot back in, but Chapman was down well at the foot of the post to block it.

Witheridge took the lead after 16 minutes. Steve Ebdy played a good ball in to Jordan Charran and he ran into the area before clipping the ball past the onrushing Chapman and into the net. Straight after this, Tom Barwell took the ball and went on a long run before cutting into the area and hitting a shot that flew just over the bar. Witheridge had a golden opportunity to double their lead after 17 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Ryan Bushby had tripped Richard Blake in the area.

However, Jason Chapman dived to his left to save Steve Ebdy’s spot kick and keep Town in the game. With Matt Drummond away on holiday, Liam Eddy was playing as a lone striker and Steve Avery never left his side for a moment, and with Neil Pointing waiting to clear any passes that did get through, goalscoring opportunities were few and far between.

Charran, who was a constant menace to the Town defence, tried his luck with a shot on the run that flew just wide of the far post with Chapman narrowing the angle.

The second half saw Falmouth trying harder to build up some attacks, but too often their passing let them down and the Witheridge players were constantly snapping up all the stray balls to launch counter attacks.

Karl Turner and Eddy combined well on the left and the ball was fired across the area, but Mark Vercesi, making an all too rare run into the box, was just too late to make contact. A lot of the play in this half was confined to midfield as both sides struggled to find the final pass that was needed to break through. Twenty minutes from time, Eddy had his one and only clear chance on goal. He managed to slip his marker and ran through on a one-on-one with home keeper Kurtis Parkin, but he hurried his shot and the ball went wide of the post.

Town brought on Nigel Thwaites to replace Richard Kellow in an attempt to push forward more, but the home side brought on all three substitutes during the half to counter any tactical changes that Town tried. Charran forced another good save out of Chapman and at the other end Dan Green took Barwell’s pass in his stride, but his shot flew straight at the keeper. Both sides forced corners near the end, but despite some hectic scrambles, neither side could add to the scoreline.