By Kevin Marriott at Poltair Park

WESTERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION

St Austell 2 Wellington 0

COMETH the hour cometh the man. And when that man is Liam Eddy, you’ve always got a chance of winning a tight match.

That’s what happened at Poltair Park on Saturday when the experienced striker emerged from the substitutes’ bench after 66 minutes with the game goalless.

Eddy offers something different and with first choice strikers Adam Carter and Curtis Damerell unavailable, St Austell needed more of a threat up front.

And when another sub, James Lorenz, provided a superb cross from the left with seven minutes of normal time left, Eddy was there to glance a header into the far corner of the net.

Wellington poured forward in search of an equaliser, leaving gaping holes at the back, and in the fifth and last minute of time added on, Eddy produced an inch perfect pass from just over the halfway line to set Max Gilbert clear. He used all of his know-how to take the ball to the edge of the penalty area before firing his shot past Wellington keeper Jake Viney into the net.

There had been little in this game before the introduction of Eddy, who is a great impact substitute to have. He was definitely the key to turning one point into three.

There were other major contributors, not least skipper Neil Slateford, who continued to cajole and encourage his teammates into believing they were going to win.

Teigan Rosenquest provided the Lillywhites’ main threat on both flanks and was unlucky to subbed 12 minutes from time, although it was impossible to argue with what happened after he went off.

In the first half, only a better final pass prevented the home side breaking the deadlock much earlier as Rosenquest and Martyn Duff caused problems along the left.

There was a scare for the Lillywhites in the 18th minute when the referee awarded a penalty to Wellington after a foul on Harry Scott, but after consulting a linesman on the far side of the pitch, he changed his decision to a free-kick outside the box and nothing came from it.

St Austell’s best chance of the opening half came five minutes later when Rosenquest pulled the ball back into the path of Matt Searle, whose fierce shot was brilliantly saved by Viney.

The Lillywhites introduced Lorenz at the start of the second half and he operated mostly along the left with Rosenquest switching to the right, where he broke through on the hour but saw his low shot claimed at his near post by Viney.

The keeper was then at the centre of a controversial moment as he raced out of his area to send Searle crashing to the ground as he went clear one on one. It could have been a red card but the referee decided a yellow would suffice.

This was only St Austell’s second win in seven games since winning promotion to the Western League but they have enough quality to lift themselves clear of any trouble.

With the size of the budget being spent on the squad – Liskeard Athletic’s Lorenz and Ben Collins the most recent expensive additions, albeit on dual registrations – the expectation is that St Austell should be doing better.

But this is a marathon, not a sprint, and with a fully fit squad it’s easy to see them putting together a run of positive results.

ST AUSTELL: Andy Collings, Jake Shaw, Martyn Duff, Tom Whipp, Ollie Brokenshire, Callum Watson, Neil Slateford (capt), Matt Searle (Ben Collins 84), Henry Wilson (James Lorenz 46), Owen Howe (Liam Eddy 66), Teigan Rosenquest (Max Gilbert 78). Sub not used: Jayden Gilbert.

St Austell man of the match: Teigan Rosenquest.