Foxhole 3 Penryn 4

[Darin Morse]

Foxhole 3 Penryn 4

Saturday 30th April 2011

Foxhole will surely never have a better chance of ending their hoodoo against a very average Penryn, a side they have still to beat in eight attempts at Peninsula league level, who fielded only three players from last summer's corresponding fixture. However, the visitors took full advantage of some generous defending, despite the Foxes naming no less than eight defenders in their starting line-up, to inflict a fourth straight defeat in a match which was not quite the thriller that seven goals may suggest.

The Foxes' hopes lay almost exclusively with Griffin, and he created the first chance on eight minutes, racing on to Allen's flick to turn Oliver on the edge of the box, but his shot was pulled wide. However, three minutes later, Mackellar's searching ball found Griffin, who calmly lobbed the advancing Hurst. Larcombe would have immediately equalised had he not inexplicably delayed pulling the trigger from Hobbs' pass, a feat incredibly he soon repeated from Howlett's centre. Band was typically proving elusive, and levelled the scores on 29 by lifting the ball over Holland before, two minutes later, Larcombe cut in from the right to net from fifteen yards. Larcombe continued his busy afternoon by fizzing a first-time effort narrowly wide after being found by Blizzard, and Band burst through only to fluff his attempt at chipping the keeper, as Penryn threatened to seal the points before they changed ends, to the frustration of the hard-working Kempthorne, booked for dissent after the referee had failed to penalise Edwards for a clear foul.

With renewed vigour, Foxhole began the second half on the offensive, Griffin squandering a great chance by opting to shoot weakly into Hurst's hands rather than squaring for the unmarked Allen. However, just before the hour mark, the pair combined for Griffin to fire a low volley past Hurst; joy quickly turned to despair when, within moments, a defensive calamity presented Hobbs with a simple tap in. Things got even worse on 64 when Moody's left-wing cross to the front post was turned in by Richardson with the home rearguard conspicuous by their absence. At this stage there was only one winner, particularly when only poor finishing by Howlett, who toe-poked over from close range, a suspiciously offside-looking Richardson, who was denied by Holland's legs, and substitute Potterton, who ran clear but shot tamely at Holland, saved the Foxes from the embarrassment of conceding five goals in a game for the sixth time this season. To their credit, though, Foxhole had much the better of the final ten minutes, but the rub of the green which has eluded them all season failed to make a timely appearance. Allen drove wide from twenty yards and Griffin headed Hancock's deep free-kick over the bar under pressure from Davis, before the marine was controversially denied his third goal of the game by a late flag. With three minutes remaining, Moody blatantly tugged at the shirt of Egan who was trying to convert fellow replacement Pete May's inviting centre, allowing Griffin to emphatically complete his hat-trick from the spot, but the late rally was insufficient to gain any tangible reward.

Foxhole (4-4-2): Ryan Holland; Jason Hancock, Daniel Allen, Adam Holland, Bradley Ralph; Matt May (sub. Pete May), James Cutlan (sub. Joe Egan), Tony Mackellar, Michael Kempthorne; Richard Griffin, Chris Allen.

Penryn (4-4-2): Ben Hurst; Dave Blizzard, Ollie Moody, Ben Oliver, Hal Davis; Hugh Howlett, Matt Larcombe (sub. Rob Hosking), Darren Edwards (sub. Tommy Potterton), Dan Richardson; Dale Band, Greg Hobbs.

Referee: Mr Russell Hale (Liskeard).