Buckland Slip to Surprise Defeat while Beesands and Roselands Serve Up a Cracker
There may have been a great fireworks display at Homers Heath on the Friday night, but a seemingly straightforward trip for Buckland to lowly Cribbs ended with a less than sparkling 2-1 defeat. Jared Lewington nodded home Lloyd Gardner’s free-kick in the 14th minute but the goal wasn’t to be enough as Josh Jones levelled, from Dom Graffagnino’s corner, just after the hour mark. The goal seemed to put a rocket up the visitors and there were plenty of bangs and cracks in the last five minutes as Buckland struck the woodwork a number of times; but it was an early whistle that Buckland could have done with because, four minutes after the 90, the hosts found the net again, sub George Binding rounding Tom Buckler for the winner.
On a damp squib of a day, the Peninsula League ended up a complete washout, and there were only three matches featuring SDFL sides. Two of those were held, unsurprisingly, on 3G pitches.
The only league match was in Division Four, with both hosts Roselands and visiting Broadmeadow looking to gain ground on the leaders. Broadmeadow took the lead, Charlie Ross pouncing on a pass-back that Roselands keeper Scott Staddon was slow to come out to before pulling the ball back for Daniel Kenward to tap home. Roselands picked up the pace and got an equaliser through a fantastic Liam Walton strike from outside the box which visiting ‘keeper Shillabeer did well to get a hand to. After this, the home side wasted a few one-on-ones as they looked to complete the turnaround.
In the second half, chances were few and far between with both teams struggling with the swirling wind. Both teams tried to play football but a draw always looked likely. Late in the game, a great ball from the left dropped for Roselands’ Daniel Pagett who struck the ball sweetly only for Shillabeer to save smartly. The game petered out to a draw which meant no change in table position, but was accepted by both sides as a fair result.
The other 3G contest saw Dartmouth AFC visit Plymouth Marjons in the Second Round of the Throgmorton Premier Cup. Darts fought out a 3-3 draw with goals from McAuley, Frost and Rushe but bowed out 5-3 on penalties.
With a Firewatch Senior Cup Third Round game at the Cellars also unexpectedly going ahead, both Beesands and visiting Roselands served up nine goals between them – seven of them coming in extra-time!
The game kicked off with Beesands slightly edging the opening encounters but with Roselands coping quite easily. The first half was a real tight affair, with both teams’ defences on top. Roselands striker Dan Keating went the closest first with an angled drive just going past the near post. But with 35 minutes gone on the clock, a poor kick from Roselands ‘keeper Brad Corderoy landed at the feet of young new Beesands signing Finley Bullen, 25 yards out; he took the ball on before unleashing a rocket into the top corner.
A few harsh words were spoken at half time by the away managers and they got the response they wanted with Roselands upping their tempo and controlling the whole of the second half. Tom Dunlop, Luke Steward and Richard Malone all went close with chances before Craig Corcoran headed in a neat cross from Malone. Beesands continued to battle, with skipper TJ Lang (pictured) prominent, as the match headed towards 30 minutes of extra-time.
Nobody was expecting Roselands to score four goals in the next 10 minutes, but their fitness was really starting to show and Malone kicked things off after beating two players and then smashing a low drive into the corner of the net. A couple of minutes later, Beesands conceded a free-kick which Mitchell McMillan curled home from long distance. Top scorer Luke Steward was next on the list, firing into the roof of the net from the right angle, before Malone grabbed his brace to send Roselands 5-1 up at the next half time interval.
The last 15 minutes saw a mini-revival from the home side after referee Jason Haywood awarded a penalty which was put away by Lee Morgan. In the 115th minute Beesands reduced the scoreline to 5-3, another new signing Kurt Thiele bundling in a header from a corner, before Steward grabbed his second, straight from the restart, poking home the ball after good work from Roselands midfielder Adam Blackburn; 6-3 the final score as Roselands march on.
