Monday night defeat on the road for Tavistock AFC despite late fightback

Tavi made the long trip from Devon to Wiltshire with a squad raring to go after earning a late point against Bideford in their previous outing.

Manager Stuart Henderson made five changes from the side that drew at Bideford, with Alfie Clark, Callum Watson, Jonathan Rawlings and Lewie Rendle coming into the starting line-up.

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Ryan White, Olly Northam, Tom Chastey and Charlie Castlehouse, were those replaced, with the first three dropping to the bench.

New signing Leighton Thomas was the other change, being handed his debut, with the former Paulton and Cribbs forward replacing Chris Merrin.

The Lambs started the encounter well and looked dangerous down the left flank, with young full-back Ethan Wright pushing forward.

In the sixth minute Wright had the first opportunity of the clash.

With Supermarine standing off him, the former Saltash defender struck a powerful effort that was saved well by Lucas Myres.

Two minutes later the Lambs had two glorious chances to take the lead.

A ball from Jack Crago found Thomas, who struck an audacious effort from 20 yards that beat Myres but crashed against the bar.

The rebound was half-cleared by Supermarine but fell perfectly to Clark, whose low drive was saved expertly by the young goalkeeper.

A minute later, against the run of play, the hosts took the lead.

Neat play down the right saw Conor McDonagh and Sam Turl combine, with the latter delivering a sweeping cross that was flicked home by Sid Gbala.

It was the lively forward’s 14th goal of an impressive season.

After the goal the tempo slowed, with both sides settling following a frantic opening 10 minutes.

The Lambs continued to look lively down the left, with Wright causing problems.

In the 20th minute he delivered a cross that was inches away from finding Thomas, but it was cleared by the defence.

Rawlings went down with a tight leg muscle after 26 minutes, and was replaced by Dillon Croft.

On the half-hour mark the hosts doubled their lead.

Gbala won a corner off Josh Baxter, and Piotr Petrynski delivered a pinpoint cross that was headed home by Olly Case ahead of Jack Arthur.

It was the defender’s first goal for the Wiltshire side.

In the 38th minute play was stopped after Turl and Crago clashed heads while challenging for a cross.

That proved to be the final action of the half, with Supermarine taking a two-goal advantage into the break.

At the start of the second half Tavi were forced into another change, with Crago unable to continue and White coming on.

Within 15 minutes Henderson made his remaining substitutions, with Chastey, Northam and Elis Aldrich replacing Rendle, Rhys Lindsell and Clark.

In the 65th minute a deep corner from Petrynski found Case, whose header back across goal was nodded just over by Brad Hopper.

Two minutes later McDonagh cut inside from the left and bent an effort narrowly past the far post.

The hosts then made three substitutions in quick succession, with Joe Owiti, Sal Abubakar and Zach Rugman entering the field.

A neat through ball from Watson found Aldrich after 78 minutes, it was squared for Chastey, but the assistant referee flagged for offside.

In the 86th minute White won a free-kick off Case after strong wing play.

The delivery caused problems, with White, Chastey and Baxter all seeing efforts blocked.

Thomas did eventually find the net with an excellent finish to make it 2-1.

The forward showed sharp instincts to take the ball from Chastey before firing into the corner beyond Myres.

The Lambs pushed for an equaliser but were unable to find a second goal.

Late tensions saw Abubakar and White both booked following a brief scuffle.

Shortly afterwards the referee blew for full-time.

Supermarine return to action on Friday (27 February) when they host Larkhall Athletic at the Imagine Cruising Stadium.

The Lambs are next in action on Saturday (28 February) with another long away trip, this time to Didcot Town.