On Saturday Penzance Reserves welcomed Constantine to Penlee Park for a third match in the group stage of the Percy Stephens Cup, a game from which victory was imperative to retain any hope of progression to the quarter finals following the loss of a 1-0 lead at Lizard Argyle.
“The pre match message from Lee Major and I was quite simple,” said joint manager Darren Smith: “start fast and leave it all out there. We all know if we play our style of play, there's not many teams around that can live with us. It was just a case of whether we could... thankfully we did!”
Penzance found themselves three up inside half an hour with a brace from Kizzy Snowden and another from Harvey Richings. And it wasn't long before more goals were scored. Joel netted a diving header, Snowden completed his hat trick and Matt Robinson headed the ball over the line, effectively killing the game in the first half.
After the break, Snowden turned provider for skipper James Payne to net a diving header before substitute Connor Thomas collected the ball on the edge of the box and rifled his effort into the bottom corner. Ilhan Kaya popped up at the back post to grab the final goal of the game seven minutes from time.
“With several top performances all over the pitch, and all subs gaining good minutes, it was a really tough call for the man of the match this week,” reflected Smith. “Haidar Fadli was top drawer playing in central midfield alongside the cool and collected Tyler Dayus, and Dylan Walter was superb on the wing. Kizzy would have been an easy choice as he was a nightmare for the Constantine defence all game and grabbed a hat-trick and two assists.
“The defence kept an equally important clean sheet. Adrian Murley only had a couple of saves to make thanks to Josh Whitburn, Payno and Lewis Hitchens putting in a real shift, and Matty "Cancelo" Robinson was superb grabbing a goal whilst putting in the miles on the right. However, just pipping them all this week is Harvey Richings. He weighed in with another goal, two assists and was always an outlet for a release ball down the wing.
“I would also like to say a massive thank you for the support yesterday. I counted an incredible 74 people watching which is fantastic to see, and the lads really do appreciate it so much. Being applauded when you are subbed and hearing the cheers when a goal goes in really makes a huge difference to the team’s confidence and belief, so thank you all!”
Penzance: Adrian Murley, Lewis Hitchens, Josh Whitburn, Matt Robinson, James Payne (c), Harvey Richings, Tyler Dayus, Haider Fadli, Dylan Walter, Joel Steel, Kizzy Snowden
Subs: Connor Thomas, Ben Reeve, Ilhan Kaya, Anthony Nicholas