Penryn 1 Foxhole 1

[Darin Morse]

Penryn 1 Foxhole 1

Monday 30st August 2010

A magnificent penalty save by Ryan Holland earned ten-man Foxhole a deserved first Peninsular point at Kernick Road after a vastly improved performance by the spirited visitors. Holland flung himself to his right to tip Hal Davis' fiercely struck effort against a post after an incident which saw debutant Douglas receive a second yellow card for bringing down Brewer. The lively striker would argue he had already earned two other penalties by then, the referee waving play on in the second minute when he tumbled after colliding with the keeper, and then firing in a shot which appeared to strike Ralph's arm just before the break, but it's hard to sympathise, given that Penryn have now incredibly been awarded five spot-kicks in four home encounters against Foxhole.

The Foxes had elected to pack their midfield, leaving Body to plough a lone furrow up front, yet they created much the better chances early on. Whetter's header was cleared off the line by Scoley, and Adam Holland lobbed Symons only to be denied by Hal Davis' desperate stretch before Griffin's weak header from Friendship's corner was easily gathered and Body's low centre flashed across goal. However, Foxhole were struggling to contain the mobile home midfield in which Cooke stood out, and they were again fortunate when the strong-running Johnston broke down the right to test Holland, Brewer's follow-up attempt being cleared from underneath the bar by Griffin. Richardson should have done better with a header from Thirkle's flighted ball before the young midfielder's goal was contentiously ruled offside despite seemingly timing his run beyond Ralph, but his luck changed five minutes before half-time when his mis-hit shot from twenty yards found Scoley lurking at the far post to slot home. Ben Douglas almost equalised straight away, bursting between two defenders but he pulled his shot wide before entering the notebook for what the referee deemed persistent fouling, joining Rowe, earlier cautioned for a foul on Cooke.

The second period was similarly entertainingly frenetic, the Foxes now having to deal with the added threat of the burly Trevaskis, but they held firm and, after Friendship and McLean had traded half chances, the equaliser arrived on the hour when Bird's deep cross was slammed home by Griffin. Within seconds, though, Douglas was showering, Ryan Holland was excelling and his brother had mysteriously also been booked, but their endeavours were rewarded as they secured a draw with relatively few alarms. Trevaskis raced clear only to find Holland again in unbeatable form, the keeper then tipping over Richardson's piledriver, before Brewer somehow failed to convert Johnston's cross from all of a yard, but the visitors were also to create a number of opportunities to steal an unlikely victory. Whetter's header from Bird's free-kick was fielded by Symons, who moved smartly to smother from Rowe following a clever touch by Friendship, before Rowe nodded Warne's corner too high during a spell when the impact of the likes of Cooke had decreased dramatically thanks to the Foxes' impressive determination and doggedness. In stoppage time, and shortly after Bird had ludicrously been booked for alleged dissent, Body twice found himself in front of goal but, alas, was unable to hit the target; overall, though, a draw was probably a fair result.

Foxhole (4-5-1): Ryan Holland 8; CJ Bird 7, Gareth Geach 6, Bradley Ralph 7, Lee Whetter 7; Adam Holland 7, Mark Rowe 7, Ben Douglas 5, Kyle Friendship 6 (sub. Jason Warne 81 mins, 6) Richard Griffin 6 (sub. Michael Kempthorne 87 mins, 5); Michael Body 6.

Penryn (3-5-2): Chris Symons; Dave Blizzard, Kirk Davis, Hal Davis; Sean Johnston, Will Scoley, Pete McLean (sub. Ben Ambrose), Dan Richardson, Cody Cooke; Jamie Thirkle (sub. Kayne Trevaskis), Steve Brewer.

Referee: Mr Dave Lobb (Par) 6.