By Kevin Marriott at Lantoom Park

SWPL PREMIER WEST (SATURDAY)

Dobwalls 4 Launceston 0

DOBWALLS reached the summit on Saturday – now we’re about to discover whether this relatively young team have the head for heights.

Their emphatic victory over struggling Launceston – and Newquay’s surprise 2-1 loss at Bude – lifted them to the top of the table for the first time with only one defeat in their first 14 league games this season.

They hit the halfway point of the campaign on Saturday when Bude are the visitors to Lantoom Park and after their result against the Peppermints, it shows they will be no pushovers. But neither are Dobwalls. They’re a team of few stars at SWPL level but as a collective they work harder than any team I have seen in the Premier West division.

Will that be enough to sustain a remarkable run of results, with the almost unthinkable prospect of promotion to the Western League looming in the distance?

If they can remain humble, and not look too far in front of them in terms of fixtures, they have a chance.

Saturday’s game presented Dobwalls with a different challenge to recent matches. They have been considered underdogs in most of their fixtures so far but the visit of bottom placed Launceston put the home side in the driving seat.

That expectancy can weigh heavily on players and for most of the first half they found an impressive Clarets defence hard to pierce.

Dobwalls made a lethargic start and it took them until the 32nd minute to register a genuine chance when Josh Johnson’s low cross to the near post found Kai Burrell, whose close range effort was turned away for a corner by Launceston keeper Liam Hill.

Two minutes later Kaycee Ogwu’s header from a corner flew just wide but just as interesting was what happened behind him as Nathan Lang appeared to be thrown to the floor.

But referee Paul Kempen, who was well placed to judge, waved away the home side’s protests.

You could sense the momentum building, though, and Dobwalls finally found the breakthrough three minutes from half-time. Ironically it came about from a rare Launceston attack when they pushed players up for a free-kick and were exposed when Lang’s long punt to clear the danger allowed Ogwu to outpace his marker and spotting Hill off his line, brilliantly lobbed the ball over him into the net.

It should have been 2-0 two minutes later when a superb cross from left-back Taylor Davey found Charlie Castlehouse but he fired his shot inches wide.

At 1-0 down Launceston were still in the game, but when Johnson made it 2-0 six minutes into the second half the writing was on the wall. Burrell’s pass played in Ogwu along the left and his cross was fumbled by Hill, allowing Johnson to finish off from close range.

Dobwalls’ third goal was a superb direct free kick from the left-footed Burrell, who bent a beauty over Hill into the net after 63 minutes, having won the argument with Lang over who should take the kick.

And the scoring was completed in the 85th minute when impressive substitute Liam Blackwell produced a first time cross from the left and another sub, Ovo Ememerurai, raced in to finish from close range.

DOBWALLS: James Morley; Adam Kenyon (Hayden Baugh, 75), Taylor Davey, Nathan Lang, Joe Cook, James Forrest, Kai Burrell, Ryan Geach, Josh Johnson (Ovo Ememerurai 70), Charlie Castlehouse (capt, Dan Tate 61), Kaycee Ogwu (Liam Blackwell, 81). Sub not used: Ben Barrowdale.

Dobwalls man of the match: James Forrest.