Liskeard lose their cool as title hopes ended by Holsworthy

South West Peninsula League

Holsworthy 1 Liskeard Athletic 0
Liskeard’s title and promotion hopes ended at Upcott Field on Wednesday with a surprise defeat against mid-table Holsworthy, who hadn’t won a home league game this calendar year.
And the Blues will want to forget their miserable experience in North Devon where Sam Jago’s 25th minute goal earned the points for Ryan Hall’s side.
Liskeard’s indiscipline cost them dearly; they were distracted by the performance of the referee, who may still be working out how many players he showed cards to.
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.
Cornwall FA are likely to be in touch with the Lux Park club with a fine for the high number of cautions received in one game.
Holsworthy also had five players yellow carded in an increasingly chaotic second half where the referee 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.
Gilbert has been a cool character on the touchline for the majority of this season, steering clear of trouble with referees. His yellow card during last Friday’s win at Callington was, as he was happy to tell the referee at the time, his first of the season.
Liskeard’s disciplinary record generally this campaign has been ok – they just seem to have a self-destruct button when it comes to the crunch. Last season’s Walter C Parson Cup final comes readily to mind.
Influential captain Max Gilbert’s red card against third-placed Newquay recently proved very costly, ruling him out of three games in the title run-in. They’ve missed him.
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 goal.
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 after he came off worst in a midfield challenge. 
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 Jack Tribble was inches away from getting Holsworthy’s second goal.
There was another flashpoint in the 63rd minute when Ben Collins was caught by a late challenge from Jack Tribble and needed treatment but a linesman standing a couple of yards away saw nothing wrong. 
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 a straight red for continuing his dissent.

Flashpoint: Ben Collins (11) is left requiring treatment after a late challenge by Jack Tribble which went unpunished. Picture: Kevin Marriott

Holsworthy: R Chadwick, C Martyn, C Sargent (W Harris 36), R Buckland, J Peschke, T Martyn, L Haxell, A Slade, S Jago, J Tribble (J Nosworthy 74), G Carter.

Subs: T Wonnacott, S Bingham, R Caglar.

Goal: S Jago (25).

Yellow cards: J Peschke (55), T Martyn (63), A Slade (64), J Tribble (64), T Wonnacott (90+2).

Liskeard: S Borthwick (C Harvey 75), J McCabe, M Outtram, H Bell, M Thorp, R Kane (J Bowker 46), C Merrin, J Woods, C Young (D Jennings 57), M Smith, B Collins.

Subs: J Rowe, H Mullis.

Yellow cards: B Collins (29), C Young (36), D Gilbert (38), M Thorp (64), J Bowker (66), J McCabe (89).

Red card: H Bell (89).

Sin bin: J McCabe (37).

Referee: Matthew Uren.