Godolphin 5 Foxhole 1

[Darin Morse]

Godolphin 5 Foxhole 1

Saturday 20th November 2010

Glyn Rowett's disappointing reign as Foxhole boss ended in ignominious defeat to a rampant Godolphin outfit who raced into a four-goal lead inside half an hour. The home team soon settled into their stride and opened the scoring on 11 minutes when Brown seized onto a poor clearance to waltz past Kempthorne and drive the ball into the net. The Foxes managed to hold out until the twenty-third minute when Martin's left-wing centre found Rose lurking with intent at the far post to finish with ease. Almost immediately, Pinnell's header from Fallons' corner was hacked away from beneath his own bar by the returning Faircloth, but it was only the most temporary of reprieves as Harris soon capitalised on Rowe's slip to kill the game as a meaningful contest.

Yet, things were about to slide even further for the beleagured visitors as Griffin's caution for fouling Brown was followed by the fourth goal, Harris' right-wing cross presenting a simple tap in for Lowry, whose clearly offside position in the build-up had been deemed inactive, again highlighting just how ludicrous the current law is. Foxhole's switch to a more familiar 3-5-2 at least ensured the home team only once threatened a fifth before the break when Brown's low centre flashed across goal, and Griffin provided some cheer for the visiting faithful by converting Kempthorne's pass during a fiery period which also saw Shepako's name taken for a poor challenge on Laughton.

That Foxhole improved in the second half isn't saying much, and may have been more a direct result of Godolphin taking their foot off the pedal. As it was, Ryan Holland was by far the busier keeper, producing a fine save to deny Lowry, who had been permitted to run from deep unchallenged, before twice preventing the impressive Harris a deserved second goal and twice diving to his left to turn away Fallons' fierce attempt from eighteen yards and Brown's effort from even further out, while only Kempthorne's fine tackle halted the dallying Harris as he was about to pull the trigger.

At least Foxhole were able to mount some attacks, James over-running the ball when well placed to convert an astute pass by Friendship, who then lobbed too high from the edge of the box following a rare flowing move involving Kempthorne and Griffin. The best opportunity fell to the unmarked Griffin, but his header from Laughton's free-kick floated harmlessly wide, before Douglas drove wide from distance. The unforgiving nature of some of the challenges finally petered out, but not before Brown had received a yellow card for high feet on Rowe, and Bird had been cautioned for dissent. Three minutes from time, Rose's long ball found substitute Whigg to calmly lob Holland and stroke the ball into the unguarded net without a covering defender in sight, just the sort of shortcoming the new boss will need to address if the Foxes are to halt a dismal run of five successive league defeats.

Foxhole (4-4-2): Ryan Holland; CJ Bird, Richard Faircloth, Mark Rowe, Adam Holland (sub. Matt May); Kyle Friendship, Scott Laughton (sub. James Cutlan), Michael Kempthorne, Ben Douglas; Richard Griffin, Glyn James.

Godolphin (4-4-2): Sean Semmens; Tom Shepako, Mark Rose, Tim Peacock, Ollie Pinnell; Aiden Martin (sub. Jamie Whigg), Ross Fallons, Scott Flannigan, Kyle Brown; Phil Lowry (sub. Lee Paxton), Josh Harris (sub. Dave Rabone).

Referee: Mr Paul Windle (Penzance).