SALTASH UNITED 3

PENRYN ATHLETIC 1

PENRYN Athletic's hopes of finishing in the top places in the Carlsberg SWL in a bid to secure a place in the new SW Peninsula League took a knock when they were beaten 3-1 by Saltash United.

Although the surface was very heavy, the Kimberley Park Stadium was one of the few grounds to actually get the better of the weather.

Athletic were in with a chance of getting something from the game right up until the final ten minutes, but when the Ashes scored their third goal any hopes of a point rapidly disappeared for Athletic.

United made their presence felt from the first whistle and had the better of the opening exchanges which eventually led to them taking an eighth-minute lead when Marc Thorne gained possession and took on the visiting defence before giving Chris Symons no chance with a well-struck curling shot from 18 yards.

Athletic weathered the early storm and began to get a foothold in the game which brought its reward in the 24th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Dean Harris had been fouled in the box. Steve Rowson took the spotkick and made no mistake with his shot past Lee Carew.

It was nip and tuck for the rest of the half with United looking the more dangerous of the two sides in front of goal and it needed a timely clearance from Dan Richardson to keep a back header from Thorne from ending up in the back of the net.

Just when it looked like Athletic would reach the break on level terms United struck with a second goal in the 42nd minute when Mark Chapman worked a move with Daley Simpson before beating Symons from an acute angle.

United were the sharper side in the second half, but Athletic always looked capable of a goal as they threatened on the break and with a little more luck could have grabbed an equaliser.

The final nail in the coffin came with nine minutes to play when Carl Pender opened up the visiting defence to set up Danny Lewis to score with an easy shot from ten yards.

Athletic will need to get back on track to fill one of the top eight places in the league and their next port of call will also not be easy, away to Millbrook on Saturday, kick off 2.30 pm.

Athletic: C Symons, D Harris, S Jewell, L Bradd, D Band, J Miller, D Richardson, M Moore, S Rowson, R Young, M Drummond. Subs: B Goldring, A Trudgian, M Cain.