North Petherwin 2 v 2 St Minver 1sts

1sts battled to the end in difficult conditions and salvaged a 2-2 draw thanks to a brace from Robbie Green

Looking to put the disappointment of the Junior Cup Semi Final defeat on Wednesday behind us, the very soft pitch at North Petherwin took us too long to come to terms with and in the end we were happy to share the points.

We wanted to start well and get back on our winning ways, but within 2 minutes we were disappointingly behind after failure to clear the ball when required on a couple of occasions, the ball fell kindly for the North Petherwin striker and he finished well across the helpless Chris Andrews.

On 10 minutes we got back on level terms when a break down our left resulted in a quality cross to the back stick where Robbie Green arrived on queue to bundle his header home for 1-1.

Hoping the equaliser would settle us down in to our stride, we almost immediately conceded the lead again when once again our failure to clear our lines in sticky conditions resulted in the North Petherwin striker having a clear strike on goal, created by us and finished by them for 2-1.

Half time: North Petherwin 2 - 1 St Minver 1sts

A strong chat at half time and a change in tactics aimed to help us spread play rather than over complicating things in a tight middle of the park. It worked as we managed to free up our wide players more regularly and get the North Petherwin defence turning, which we hadn't managed too often on the first half.

We introduced Callum Wilson, Mike Kempthorne and Daniel Cox in the 2nd half, all making positive contributions to our improved second half showing.

For all our positive pressure in the 2nd half, we could not turn our possession in to a cutting edge and just when it looked like we were going to leave empty handed, Callum Wilson wriggled his way free in the box only to be chopped down and the ref rightly pointed to he spot.

Corey Cleave stepped up but the impressive North Petherwin keeper guessed correctly and saved the penalty well.

Just when we thought we might manage to grab an equaliser it looked like a poor week for us was going to finish on a sour note.

Fortunately the soft ground came to our rescue as in the dying minutes the ball fell for the none stop running of Robbie Green and as 2 defenders and the keeper battled to run and turn in the mud, Robbie pocked it home through the approaching defenders for 2-2 and a feeling of relief for the Saints.

From the kick off we continued to press and the final moment of quality fell to Man of the Match Robbie Green as the ball dropped for him and he immediately hit a powerful and technically brilliant volley/lob from 30 yards out. Fortunately for North Petherwin, their keeper kept his feet well on this occasion and managed to back track well in the soft ground to tip the ball over at the last moment under the bar.

It would have been an amazing finish but to be fair a 2-2 draw was a fair result as North Petherwin battled throughout and caused us plenty of issues.

Full time: North Petherwin 2 - 2 St Minver 1sts

We need to learn that sometimes the quality short passing football we have thrived on needs adapting to suit the conditions. But in the end it was a pleasing point from what for most of the time looked like a game we were getting nothing from it.

This weekend we are at home to St Cleer in the KMD Knockout Cup with a 14:00 kick off and then back to league action the following weekend away at Foxhole.

Starting XI: Chris Andrews, Dan Colwill, Dayll Beesley (c), Sam Cleave, Richard Simmons, Ben Beesley, Ted Meagor, Robbie Green, Steve Wootton, Corey Cleave, Andrew Seymour

Subs: Callum Wilson, Mike Kempthorne, Daniel Cox

Sharps Brewery Man of the Match: Robbie Green