ST BLAZEY made their way into the last eight of the Senior Cup after a hard-fought victory over a spirited Launceston at Blaise Park on Wednesday night.

Callum McGhee’s 37th minute penalty broke the deadlock, Jordan Bentley added a second four minutes into the second half and Tyler Elliott made it 3-0 after 67 minutes.

Ryan Dawe pulled one back for the Clarets two minutes later but Blazey never looked in danger of throwing away their advantage.

They should have scored more but in Howie Evans they came up against a young goalkeeper in excellent form, especially in the first half.

Launceston’s defence in general deserved huge praise for the way they stood up to Blazey’s barrage in the second half and they left Blaise Park with heads held high.

Blazey boss Mark Carter said: “Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to our grounds team. Despite all the rain, the pitch held up superbly. Their hard work and commitment doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.

“Launceston set out very well-drilled and organised. Credit to Simon (Minett) for that. They all knew their jobs and were very compact out of possession.

“They nearly caught us out early on with a spectacular long-range effort.

“After that we were always the dominant side. We were excellent up to the final third. But lacked creativity at times. That’s something we will go away and work on at training.

“But huge credit goes to the Launceston keeper who has made four or five outstanding saves.”

Launceston boss Simon Minett said: “Going into the game off three hard games on some heavy wet pitches we were short tonight as well.

“We wanted to respect the cup and the opposition in Blazey, who are a decent Step Five outfit but at the same time had no real desire to progress with it being a midweek cup and the level of opposition in it now.

“But given that, we wanted the boys to put a real effort in and I felt we did that. Unlucky not to open the scoring and on two occasions we hit the bar.”

He added: “I felt we worked hard, were good in shape all night and left it all on the pitch and weren’t overwhelmed or heavily beaten.

“That was credit to every single one of my players, I was proud of every single one of them tonight on all their work rate, effort and desire.

“Good luck to Blazey in the next round and thanks for the great hospitality shown to us all.”

The tie, played on an excellent pitch given the deluge 24 hours earlier, produced fireworks immediately as Kian Berry came desperately close to giving the visitors a third minute lead with an audacious shot from almost the halfway line which curled over Blazey keeper Kyle Moore but crashed against the bar.

Two minutes later it was the home side’s turn to hit the woodwork. A rocket of a shot from 20 yards by Sam Clifton looked a goal all the way until Evans dived to his right to tip the ball onto a post and away for a corner.

But Launceston continued to give as good as they got and again they were denied by the woodwork in the 15th minute when a Joe Jasper rasper from 25 yards beat Moore before hitting the top of the bar.

Another top drawer save from Evans denied Kieron Bishop in the 23rd minute as a banger of a match swung from end to end.

Launceston came desperately close to taking the lead in the 35th minute when Berry twisted and turned past a couple of defenders out on the right before cutting inside to fire a left foot cross towards the far post where Jasper just failed to connect.

Two minutes later Blazey were ahead. A free-kick floated into the penalty area saw Bentley pushed in the back and referee Leigh Michael pointed to the spot, with McGhee calmly scoring the resulting penalty.

Blazey ended the half on top and came close to adding more goals as Bishop was thwarted by the brilliant Evans before Harry Probyn arrived at the near post to fire Will Tinsley’s cross inches wide.

The home side introduced young keeper Mac Dewsnap for the second half to give him some experience of the Senior Cup, but he had little to do as Blazey went for the jugular.

They started the half like a house on fire and doubled their lead in the 49th minute when Bentley was in the right place to put the finishing touch to Tyler Elliott’s free-kick.

Elliott then turned from provider to scorer with Blazey’s third goal after 67 minutes, and although his free-kick appeared to be glanced in by a defender, he was credited with the goal.

But there was no sign of heads dropping from Launceston, who reduced the arrears two minutes later when Dawe’s shot took a big deflection to leave Dewsnap stranded in the middle of his goal.

The visitors had the occasional break after that but at the other end their defence had their hands full to prevent Blazey adding to their tally, with Tom Manuel particularly outstanding.

ST BLAZEY: Kyle Moore (Mac Dewsnap 46), Will Tinsley (Tom Strike, 55), Tom Hensman, Sam Clifton, Jordan Bentley, Tom Cavanagh, Kieron Bishop, Callum McGhee (Charlie Hambly, 70), Harry Probyn (Ronnie Reynolds, 80), Tyler Elliott, Teigan Rosenquest.

LAUNCESTON: Howie Evans; Sam Tattersall (Archie Wall), Taylor Davey, Joe Moynan, Jude Jago, Tom Manuel, Ryan Dawe, Denham Guild, Joe Jasper (Jack Stephens), Will Gilbert (Mike Steele), Kian Berry.

Men-of-the-match: St Blazey – Jordan Bentley; Launceston – Howie Evans.