A confident St Newlyn East squad took to the road to play Gerrans & St Mawes after a weekend off aiming to continue their return to form found in their recent cup-tie win.
The play in the first half was generally stretched and the conditions didn't help the quality of play from both sides. The home team created the better openings yet failed to produce a shot on target. However the Saints could count themselves unlucky not to take the lead 3 times as firstly the home goalkeeper produced two outstanding saves from Brodie Mitchell on 25 minutes and Lewis Dodd 3 minutes from the break. With seconds to go before half-time a penalty was awarded to the visitors but Ross London amazingly blazed high over the crossbar. Newlyn would find these missed chances very costly by the end of the game.
Changes made at the start of the second half proved well-made as the Saints took the game by the scruff of the neck and came out of the blocks running. Just 5 minutes after the break as Lewis Dodd made one of his superb runs, saw off a defender and blasted home to give his side the lead. Seven minutes later Ross London made up for his earlier miss with a fine strike to double their advantage.
Goal of the game was a fine team effort as the ball was played from the back to youngster Callum Edgcumbe who ghosted past his marker with a deft turn finding Dodd with his pass who forced the goalkeeper into a parry which young Lucas Moses pounced on for his first ever goal in adult football for the Saints on 75 minutes.
However, at this level the game is seldom over and the home side never gave up and reaped the rewards as Newlyn seemingly switched off in a self-destructive period of 11 minutes.
Just a minute after they had conceded their third goal, Gerrans were gifted a corner when the ball had clearly crossed the touchline for a goal kick and the resultant confusion saw them bundle the ball in to claim their first. This gave them impetus which the Saints failed to deal with as their defence that was so strong in the first 75 minutes crumbled apart. Two more very soft goals went the way of the home side setting up a nervy final few minutes.
With time running out Gerrans struck home and wheeled away to celebrate but the scorer was correctly adjudged offside by the visiting assistant much to the annoyance of the home support.
The Saints found yet again that at this standard of football chances must be taken, and concentration needs to be kept for the whole 90 minutes. A frustrated Newlyn management team of Martin Grigg and Gary Thomspn were left feeling like it was three points dropped rather than a point gained.
This weekend Newlyn retur to their Cargoll Road home ground as they take on a strong Boscastle side.
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