By Kevin Marriott

SWPL PREMIER WEST

Holsworthy 1 Liskeard Athletic 0

LISKEARD Athletic’s title and promotion hopes ended at Upcott Field last Wednesday night with a surprise defeat against mid-table Holsworthy, who hadn’t won a home league game this calendar year.

My notes showed that five Liskeard players and manager Darren Gilbert were shown yellow cards, full back Josh McCabe was sin binned towards the end of the first half, and defender Harry Bell saw red late on after continuing his rant at the referee, who initially pointed him towards the sin bin.

Holsworthy also had five players yellow carded in an increasingly chaotic second half where referee Matthew Uren looked close to losing control.

Liskeard appeared to be unsettled by the officials early on and when McCabe was sin binned in the 37th minute, manager Gilbert’s comments earned him a yellow.

Full credit to Holsworthy’s young side, whose performance thrilled their loyal supporters.

They had to defend for long spells and goalkeeper Ryan Chadwick pulled off a couple of excellent saves before Jago’s 25th goal which was a fine finish from inside the box after being set up by Jack Tribble.

Liskeard’s frustrations continued after the break, seeing an effort ruled out for offside in the 52nd minute before losing striker Charlie Young to injury.

Dan Jennings, who has struggled to get into the starting line-up recently despite his 20-plus goals, replaced Smith but within a couple of minutes Tribble was inches away from getting Holsworthy’s second goal.

Liskeard thought they had equalised in the 72nd minute when Jarrad Woods appeared to finish off a mazy run but a linesman on the far side had his flag up, presumably for offside.

As the game entered its dying minutes, McCabe was booked, a decision which seemed to rile Bell, whose reaction led to a sin-bin yellow, quickly followed by the red.