CAMELFORD boss Bobby Hopkinson believes his side were unlucky to be knocked out of the South West Peninsula League Walter C Parson League Cup on Saturday afternoon following a defeat on penalties to Bovey Tracey at Trefrew Park.

The Devonians look set to battle it out with Bridport for the East title – and went top of the table last night following a 3-1 victory over Newton Abbot Spurs at Mill Marsh Park.

On Saturday, Camelford led 1-0 at half-time thanks to Ryan Downing’s 42nd minute finish, but Josh Webber levelled for the Moorlanders just four minutes after the break.

Both sides could have won it before it went to spot-kicks, but Bovey prevailed 5-4 with only Dan Hocking missing, although it took a brilliant save from Dom Aplin to deny him.

Reflecting on Saturday, Hopkinson said: “For large parts of the game we were on top.

“No we didn’t have loads of chances, but we had a lot of the ball and didn’t let them control the game in our final third.

“In the second half they were much-improved and with the quality of their squad were always going to create some chances, but overall I was really pleased with our performance.

“A couple of decisions had a real impact on the game, but we have more than matched a side who’ll probably go on and win their division, so we’ll go into the Liskeard game next Tuesday (October 21) full of confidence.”

Bovey were handed a home tie with Camelford’s North Cornwall rivals Launceston after the Clarets were 3-2 winners on spot-kicks at Millbrook following a 1-1 draw after normal time.

Camelford currently sit eighth in the Premier West table with 16 points from eight games, and are just four behind third-placed Callington Town with two fixtures in-hand.

The Camels have this weekend off before they host the Blues.

Liskeard have to go to Bude Town on Saturday, and Hopkinson feels his side’s 10-day break will work to their advantage.

He said: “After playing Wadebridge, Truro and then Saturday I think it’ll be good to have a bit of a rest period going into Tuesday night.

“It gives us the chance to work on a few things in training and I believe they’ll have a couple missing through suspension and so on, so we’ve got to be confident.

“They’ve had a good start to the season, but we only lost down there due to a controversial late penalty, so there’s no reason why we can’t cause them problems.

“Yes Liskeard are a good side and have players who shouldn’t be playing at this level, but from our perspective we’ve got some really good, honest lads who probably need to learn to be a little bit nastier and streetwise when it comes to winning games.”