Penzance 1, Falmouth Town Reserves 2

Despite a very strong finish, Penzance slipped to a narrow defeat in an entertaining friendly at Penlee Park on Tuesday evening.

Just three minutes of normal time were remaining when substitute Kam Collins lofted a cross-come-shot from wide on the right that deceived Zach Telling in the Falmouth goal and plopped just inside the far post. This set up a grandstand finale in which Telling saved from Jacob Trudgeon to deny Penzance a draw in their opening warm-up match.

The Magpies had fallen behind in just the fifth minute when Oli Pickup lashed a fierce right foot drive past Mikey Flores from a tight angle. Pickup was the most eye-catching performer as the St Piran League side bossed the opening stages, and instigated a second goal when he wriggled clear down the right after half and hour before cutting the ball back for Reggie May to slam home via the underside of the cross-bar.

Within minutes, Penzance thought they had found a way back into the match when Robertas Samnauskas stabbed the ball home at the second attempt, but referee Nigel D’Arcy spotted an infringement and chalked off the “goal”.

Having made no changes during the opening half, managers John McCallum and Adrian Ferrell brought on midfielders Collins, Max Everard and Anthony Nicholas as well as Helston forward Sam Buckley at the break. The impact was not immediate but, as the half wore on and the intense heat started to take toll, Penzance began to reap the benefit of having more options available to them on the night. Falmouth had just three subs, including first team manager Andrew Westgarth who came on late in the match.

It was after making another three late changes that the fresher legs at last started to dominate. Alfie Turner and Kizzie Snowden were thrown into the fray, and Trudgeon (who had been replaced by Buckley at the interval) reintroduced. A perceptive pass by Everard released last season’s top scorer Snowden who jinked in from the left before stretching Telling to a sprawling save. Then Trudgeon saw his dipping free-kick finger-tipped on to the bar by the Falmouth keeper before Collins finally made the break-through in the 87th minute.

It proved to be just insufficient with Falmouth deserving the win over the ninety minutes, but Penzance can be pleased with how they ended the match in very tough conditions.

Penzance: Mikey Flores, Archie Reynolds, Cameron McCabe, Kevin Lawrence, Jordan Daniell, Ryan Andrew, Tyler Tonkin, Robertas Samnauskas, Jacob Trudgeon, Darryl Richards, Silas Sullivan. Subs (all used in second half): Alfie Turner, Max Everard, Kizzie Snowden, Kam Collins, Anthony Nicholas, Sam Buckley

Falmouth: Zach Telling, Byron Wood, Reggie May, Jasper Turner, Ryan Martt, Kirk Davies, Oli Pickup, Jude Warr, Ethan Jorey, Regan Hull, Jude Tripconey. Subs: Ollie Henwood, Charlie Edney, Andy Westgarth

Ref: Nigel D’Arcy

Assistants: Sid Lawrence, Paddy Kellow