Pre-season friendly result

[Michael Rabone]

Newquay 1 - 5 St Stephen

Newquay succumbed to a heavy defeat in their opening pre-season game against Restormel rivals St Stephens. With a number of new players introduced to a rotating squad, Newquay hoped for a positive start but found themselves a goal down in the opening minutes after a defensive lapse resulted in a smart finish past returning goalkeeper Billy Holland.

Despite having two goals disallowed for offside in the first half, Newquay took too long to get into any sort of rhythm and conceded two further goals before half-time, the offside trap was breached to make the scoreline 2-0 and an unlucky goalmouth deflection led to a third St Stephen goal before half-time. St Stephen were very organised and thoroughly deserved their half-time advantage.

Following a number of changes, Newquay appeared more positive in the second half and Jay Tipton was on hand to reduce the deficit with a smart finish after a superbly executed free-kick routine between Shaun Lawrence and Sheridan Sefton. However, poor marking from a corner allowed St Stephen to extend their lead and in the final ten minutes a quick counter attack resulted in a driven cross-shot that was tapped at the far post to make the scoreline 5-1.

Newquay will need to make significant improvements when facing Dartmouth at home on Saturday afternoon, however, credit must be given to St Stephen for their solid defensive/midfield set-up and their quick counter attacks and clinical finishing.