On Saturday Penzance Reserves welcomed Threemilestone’s first team to Penlee Park in Group C of the Whirlwind Sports Trelawny League’s Percy Stephens Cup.
With Kizzy Snowden unavailable through the injury sustained against St Day, Anthony Nicholas stepped up to lead the line as the Magpies looked to maintain the momentum of that midweek league win.
And, despite a somewhat disjointed start from the home side, it was Nicholas who nodded them ahead from a deflected Harvey Richings cross. However, the lead did not last long with the visitors responding with two goals of their own, and only some excellent saves by Adrian Murley kept the deficit to just 1-2 at the break.
“The message of our team talk at half-time was to get the ball down and play to our strengths, move it quickly and get up the field,” said joint manager Darren Smith. As a result, the second half was better but Magpies did not create a clear chance until the 70th minute when Tyler Smith popped up in the right place at the right time to fire in his third goal in two games, thanks to some good work from Nicholas.
Unfortunately an ankle injury forced Anthony off with Haidar coming on to spearhead the attack in his place. Threemilestone were not done, but Murley continued to frustrate them with some incredible saves.
With ten minutes to play, a throw from Matt Robinson saw Fadli flick the ball past his marker and slam in a left-footed effort sending Penlee Park into delirium. Dylan Walter came on to replace Smith on the right with Richings sacrificed for the more defensive Jake Heale as Penzance successfully saw out the remaining minutes.
“Today we didn't start very well, but replicating Tuesday’s efforts against a team sitting mid table in the league above was always going to be tough,” concluded Smith. “The lads dug in and we got what we deserved. We kept going and probably edged the game by showing courage, tenacity and determination.
Man of the match has to go to Murley. He made several top saves to keep us in the match, and his distribution was top drawer as well. Thank you to the supporters who attended today, the lads fully appreciated it!”
Penzance: Adrian Murley, Lewis Hitchens, Josh Whitburn, Josh Reeves, Matt Robinson, Harvey Ritchings, Tyler Dayus, James Payne (c), Tyler Smith, Joel Steel, Anthony Nicholas. Subs: Ilhan Kaya, Connor Thomas, Jake Heale, Haider Fadli, Dylan Walter
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