St. Columb Major AFC

Major, playing their penultimate home game of the season, made a very average start to the game and looked disjointed early on, although there were ample opportunities for Major to open the scoring; Casey Hawkey found himself in a great position and turned the ball just wide from close range, goalkeeper Anton Lake was then called into action, safely guiding a curling shot over the crossbar to keep the game goalless. Dom Roberts forced a smart stop from the visiting goalkeeper with a powerful strike from the edge of the area, minutes later Alex Bicknell looked destined to score and yet somehow his deft chip from the edge of the area beat the onrushing goalkeeper but bounced wide of the target, much to the frustration of the home side.

St. Dennis worked hard during the opening half-hour and were gifted a free kick in a dangerous position, however, the resulting set piece struck the wall. Major continued to look threatening despite being nowhere near their best and when Jean Francois found leading goalscorer Dom Roberts in space on the penalty spot, the big target man failed to realise how much space and time he had, sidefooting his first time effort wide. It came as no surprise when St. Dennis snatched an early lead just after half an hour; Aaron Bicknell was adjudged to have committed a foul on the edge of the Major area and despite the free kick being taken quickly and given away, the referee requested a re-take and the resulting set piece evaded everyone and emphatically flew in to the top corner of the net.

St. Columb needed to respond quickly and did so courtesy of another move involving Ali Bicknell, who hit a deep cross to the far post that Jean Francois worked hard to keep in, squaring the ball into the path of David Rabone who sidefooted into an empty net under pressure with the visiting goalkeeper nowhere to be seen.

Despite the first half being below par, it became a fascinating battle to see if St. Dennis could prevent the league's top scoring side from adding to their tally in the second period. It took less than a minute for the first opportunity; St. Dennis were in disarray as Rabone appeared to come off worst in a collision; the ball broke and Dom Roberts found himself through on goal, only for his attempted touch around the goalkeeper to be smothered just inside the area after an alert piece of goalkeeping. Depsite dominating possesion, Major's Adam Weller gave away the ball outside the penalty area and a fine opportunity was squanded by the visitors - this proved to be their last meaningful opportunity of the game as Major started to make their pressure count.

Aaron Bicknell made a fine run from right back and blasted a fine strike from the edge of the area that whistled inches over the crossbar, some fine link up play between Aaron Hawken and David Rabone resulted in Alex Bicknell clipping the ball wide when through one on one and Jean Francois somehow managed to follow suit when another fine pass from Aaron Bicknell set Francois free, only for another low finish to slide the wrong side of the post. Just as it seemed that Major would not convert their countless chances to win the game, a fine chipped cross from Aaron Hawken was expertly controlled by David Rabone, who dragged the ball down with his left and struck a sweet low half-volley into the bottom corner for a goal worthy of winning any encounter with just eight minutes remaining.

Major appeared much more relaxed after taking the lead for the first time and Rabone's outrageous chip from twenty-five yards clipped the underside of the crossbar and bounced just the wrong side of the line, with substitute Jason Rid unable to add a the finishing touch after some great defensive work. The resulting corner fell to Rid who had his first time strike blocked, with Rabone's follow up strike deflected wide. Rid then failed to convert a third chance late on as Jean Francois' harmless shot was being marshalled wide by the goalkeeper, only for Rid to keep the ball in when it appeared a lost cause. Rid turned back inside and poked his shot straight into the post from close range to continue the theme of missed opportunities for the home side.
St. Dennis then had a late free kick that came to nothing; the visitors deserve a lot of credit for their effort, despite failing to create many notable chances, their hard work and collective spirit will hopefully result in a few more points before the season ends.

Newquay Logs and Coal man of the match - David Rabone