Pre-season friendly result

[Michael Rabone]

Despite a much improved performance, Newquay slipped to their second defeat in a week after failiing to make the most of their chances during a strong first half performance. The game started positively for the Peppermints, with David Rabone striking the foot of the post within the opening minute. Newquay's misfortune continued when a perfectly executed Shaun Lawrence volley struck the crossbar and further chances were squandered when Newquay looked to seek an advantage, including a missed penalty mid-way thorugh the first half.

Dartmouth were relatively content with absorbing Newquay's pressue and were almost rewarded when a quick counter attack resulted in the Newquay defence being breached, with Billy Holland standing firm to deny Dartmouth the opening goal. The sucker punch arrived late in the first half when Newquay were punished for a defensive lapse and a neat finish lobbed over Holland accounted for the only goal of the first half.

Newquay continued their form into the second half and it wasn't long before a flowing move resulted in the equaliser - David Rabone found Luke Weldhen with a slotted pass, who lost his defender and drew in the goalkeeper before slotting the ball to TJ to slide into an empty net. This should have been the catalyst for further goals, however, a number of changes shifted the dynamics of the team and it wasn't long before the Newquay defence were caught backing off and a long-range strike could only be palmed into the bottom corner by Merrikin to give Dartmouth the advantage. Despite further opportunities, Newquay failed to convert and were punished late on when an inswinging corner somehow managed to find its way into the top corner via the head of a Newquay defender.

Newquay host Wadebridge Reserves on Wednesday 5th August at Mount Wise - 7.30pm kick off.