Dobwalls and Launceston share six-goal thriller

Launceston fought back from 3-1 down seven minutes into the second half to earn a point in a rip-roaring contest at Lantoom Park on Tuesday which left Dobwalls wondering how they didn’t win.

It was a hugely entertaining first match of the season for both teams although their coaches probably didn’t view it in that way, given the catalogue of defensive mistakes throughout the encounter.

Launceston should have been ahead in the first minute when home keeper Freddy Harvey-Larmar could only parry Lee Robinson’s fierce shot and the ball fell for Sonny Dover, who somehow lifted the ball over the bar from six yards.

Dover had another chance five minutes later when a corner led to a mad scramble in the penalty area before the ball broke to him, but again he shot wide when it looked easier to score.

The visitors then had the ball in the net after 12 minutes with a superb volleyed finish from Robinson, but the linesman was flagging for offside as he took his shot.

It seemed only a matter of time before Launceston turned dominance into a goal, but it was Dobwalls who swept ahead three minutes later with a sweet finish from Jack Gaynor from Jamie Gilbert’s excellent pass.

The goal settled the home side for a while but they needed Harvey-Larmar to make a point blank save to deny Kian Berry an equaliser after 26 minutes.

The visitors did draw level, though, in the 37th minute when Robinson took advantage of a defensive error to fire a low shot across goal into the net.

They were unable to keep it all square for long but it took a goal of high quality from Oshinyemi to send them in at the break 2-1 down.

The talented Dobwalls striker cut in from the left, having held off a challenge, before rifling a right foot shot into the roof of the net with Launceston keeper Howie Evans given no chance.

Dobwalls suffered a blow in the 49th minute when Gaynor was unable to continue after a knee injury – but his replacement, Elian Causon, soon made his mark by nipping in ahead of a couple of defenders to make it 3-1 from inside the six-yard box.

That might have finished some teams, but the body language of the Launceston players suggested they felt the game was not beyond them, and so it proved.

They reduced the arrears three minutes later when Robinson converted a penalty which was carelessly given away when the ball appeared to be drifting out for a goal-kick.

This was the signal for Dobwalls to step up the pressure and a mazy run from Oshinyemi in the 63rd minute ended with a low shot which finished just wide.

Then Causon was played in on the right of the penalty area, but he shot wide when there were options in the middle.

Launceston were struggling to handle Oshinyemi, who went on another of his runs in the 80th minute before turning into the penalty area where his powerful shot was brilliantly parried away by Evans, who then had to be at his best to prevent Causon converting Gilbert’s cross.

But after that spell of intense Dobwalls pressure, Launceston went to the other end on a rare second half foray and forced an 84th minute equaliser when a speculative shot from the edge of the penalty area, which looked to be going wide, was directed into the net by a defender.

Dobwalls had a right to be aggrieved, but they kept pressing for a winner and only two superb saves from Evans stopped Gilbert from pinpoint free-kicks in the last five minutes.

Even then Launceston had a chance from a breakaway to snatch victory in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but the ball was fired into the side netting.

DOBWALLS: Freddy Harvey-Larmar; Josh Geary (Tyler Copp, 82), George Hann, Rhys Connew, Dan Frazer (Davey Wilding, 72), Cam Dymond, Jamie Gilbert (Levi Cable, 89), Ryan Winfield, Jack Gaynor (Elian Causon, 49), Luke Gale (Raffi Causon, 72), Alex Oshinyemi.

LAUNCESTON: Howie Evans; Tom Manuel, Taylor Davey, Joe Maynard, James Simmons (capt), Tom Bullock, Kian Berry, Louis Taylor, Lee Robinson, Ryan Dawe, Sonny Dover. Subs: George Davey, Connor Bone, Dylan Rangecroft, Nathan Lang, George Bills.

Men-of-the-match: Dobwalls – Jamie Gilbert; Launceston – Howie Evans.