Dartmouth 2 – 1 Tavistock AFC
John James (knee), Jimmy Kiely (groin) and Paul Chuwen (fractured cheekbone) were all missing for this fixture. Even worse news is that influential midfielder James is likely to out for the remainder of the season.
The Lambs got off to a good start and controlled the game for long periods in the first half. The home team were reduced to the occasional counter-attack. The Lambs almost took the lead in the 9th minute after some good passing in midfield, allowing Dave Hallett to find Ben Davies and his fine cross was headed just over the bar by Dan Pethick. Matt David came close from a corner kick minutes later.
In a rare raid on the Lambs’ defence, Dodgson was set free and in a one-on-one situation Andy Meeds made a great save to deny the home team from opening their account. The visitors replied immediately when Dan Pethick broke into the penalty area and fired agonisingly wide of the far post with the home ‘keeper well beaten. Pethick did get the ball into the home goal but was harshly judged to have fouled his marker before slotting the ball home.
It was no surprise that the visitors took a deserved lead in the 28th minute when Paul Quinn’s free kick saw Dartmouth’s ‘keeper Nathan Murphy fail to gather the ball under pressure, and Dean Southcott was on hand to fire the ball home.
Meeds was then called into action and made a fine save to deny the home team an equaliser. The Lambs continued to press forward and everything was going well at this stage, but then, in the 43rd minute, the game was turned on its head when defender Ben Davies was penalised for blocking a goal-bound shot from Dodgson with his arm. Davies was shown a straight red card for denying the home side a goal scoring opportunity. This really upset the Lambs’ rhythm for the remainder of the game. Scott Dodgson converted the penalty to level the scores.
Dartmouth took full advantage of their numerical advantage in the second half and controlled periods with some fine possession football. The Lambs’ defence kept the home team at bay and looked dangerous on the counter attack. And Sargent had a really good chance but fired over the bar when well placed.
Then, just as it looked as if the visitors would hang on for what would have been a very good point under the circumstances, the home team took the lead, ten minutes from time, with their second penalty of the afternoon. A strong run from Ryan Lucassi and his slick pass found Luke Brown, who was fouled by Matt David in the penalty area. Scott Dodgson made no mistake from the spot kick.
There was still time for the visitors to give the home defence a scare when Kelly cut in from the left and fired a fierce goal-bound shot which was deflected by a defender for a corner.
There are a number of positives that can be taken from this game – a great performance by the defence with Ahearn and David outstanding. Andy Meeds was on top form and, once again, both Kelly and Pethick look to be a potent force up front. Young Dean Southcott worked tirelessly throughout and looks to be one for the future.
Match Report: Derek Pethick
