Camels boss Hopkinson disappointed despite late equaliser at Helston

KYLE Flew’s injury-time equaliser rescued the Camels a point in a six-goal thriller at Helston Athletic on Tuesday night.

Camelford made the long trip down to Kellaway Park boosted by the return of Flew who came in for player/manager Bobby Hopkinson in the only change. Exciting midfielder Jacob Ham was also available and was named on the bench.

Camelford had seen off leaders Sticker 1-0 in their previous outing 10 days earlier and flew out of the traps to be two goals ahead inside eight minutes.

The first arrived on four minutes as flying winger Liam Higgins got to the byline on the left and his ball across reached right-sided player Olly Taylor who made no mistake at the far post.

Higgins was again the orchestrator for the second, cutting in off the left before being taken out. Flew stepped up to send Piran Jones the wrong way from the spot.

Helston gradually worked their way into the contest and pulled one back midway through the half as a cross was put in by veteran striker Ben Waters.

That enabled the Blues to gradually get a foothold and they were level in controversial fashion just before the break. Centre-half Tom Crowe appeared to clear the ball out, however the referee felt he had taken down a player at the same time, much to the Camels’ disgust. Josh Daniell’s superb spot-kick gave Cory Harvey no chance.

Half-time came at a good moment for the visitors who started the second half a bit better, but found Helston’s young defence tougher to break down.

After 65 minutes the Blues were given a helping hand as Crowe was sin-binned for a comment made to the referee, which was soon followed by left-back Josh Harris for an expletive.

It meant the visitors would seemingly have to weather a storm, however they created chances at the other end as Ham shot narrowly wide before Kenley Dyson was sent through one-on-one, only for the ball to get stuck under his feet.

Helston made the Camels pay with seven minutes of normal time to go as a cross from the right was eventually put in by Waters for his second, and at the start of injury-time they were inches away from a match-clinching fourth as an effort from the edge of the box hit the crossbar.

But Hopkinson brought himself off the bench to earn a point. His majestic lofted ball sent Flew away and the frontman made no mistake.

The boss admitted it was two dropped points despite the equaliser.

He said: “There were some really controversial decisions including the sin-bins and their penalty, but saying that we were 2-0 up after eight minutes and well in control.

“A lapse of concentration for their first goal gave them confidence and they started to ask us a few questions before they equalised with the penalty, but after the break we did well, particularly with nine men and even created a couple of good chances.

“Even after they scored and we equalised, to come away with just a point is extremely disappointing and two points dropped.

“But fair play to Helston for coming back, they’ve got some good young players with some ability, but if we’re going to achieve our goals we need to be winning those types of games.”

The Camels take a break from league action on Saturday as they visit North Devon outfit Torrington in the FA Vase (3pm).

CAMELFORD: Cory Harvey; Sam Watts, Dan Hocking, Tom Crowe, Josh Harris; Kenley Dyson, Ross Beare, Piotr Maciejewski; Olly Taylor, Kyle Flew, Liam Higgins. Subs: Ronnie Reynolds, Jacob Ham, Will Rees, Matt Lloyd, Bobby Hopkinson.

Camels’ man-of-the-match: Kyle Flew.