Penzance had goalkeeper Adrian Murley to thank for a point from a hard-fought local derby against a strong Rosudgeon side in front of a good crowd at Penlee Park on Tuesday night.
The Magpies welcomed back experienced duo James Payne and Joel Steel. However, without Haidar Fadli and injured Kizzy Snowden they lacked a cutting edge in the final third and created just one chance of note in the first half. That came when a Tyler Dayus free-kick was cleared only as far as Harvey Richings, but the midfielder fired over.
The visitors nearly took the lead in bizarre circumstances after a quarter hour when Chaz Brown tried his luck with a free-kick just inside the Penzance half. The speculative attempt took a nasty bounce in front of Murley, but the custodian was just able to divert it on to the cross-bar. The Oxen also had a goal ruled out for offside, but a half they largely bossed ended on a sad note when their defender Phil Harvey was taken off with a dislocated shoulder.
Despite this set-back, Rosudgeon were still in the ascendancy after the restart, but some gutsy rearguard action, including a goal-line clearance from Dayus, kept them at bay. When the defence was breached, Murley intervened with a string of quite breath-taking saves, most notably from Cory Gall. The introduction of Joey Lamb injected some attacking impetus for Penzance with the substitute setting up the home side’s best chance, but Richings was denied by a brave block.
The point, from their final league fixture of the season, secures for Penzance Reserves a fourth place finish that will probably deliver a slot in Division Two West of the expanded St Piran League for next season. This represents promotion – a worthy achievement in Lee Major and Darren Smith’s first season as managers. And there is still plenty to play for this season with progression to the quarter-finals of the Percy Stephens Cup still a possibility.
Penzance: Adrian Murley, Lewis Hitchens, Josh Whitburn, Matt Robinson, James Payne (captain), Josh Reeves, Tyler Dayus, Dylan Walter, Harvey Richings, Tyler Smith, Joel Steel. Rolling subs: Connor Thomas, Jake Heale, Joey Lamb, Kylo Mayes