10-14 April, Newquay

This was a much closer game than the result suggests, with even the Brentford coach commending the Honiton boys for a tremendous performance.

Honiton give as good as they got in an entertaining first half, with Kieran Murphy putting Rovers one up after 20 minutes with a well taken goal after Harry Wright had put him through on goal. Brentford equalised not long afterwards and the boys went in at half time with the scores at 1-1.

Midway through the second half Brentford took the lead, but even that did not deter Honiton and Ben Logan was unlucky to see his shot go over the bar, Todd Lewendon on one of his runs almost equalised too. Daniel Greenland was immense at the heart of the Honiton defence and fully deserved his man of the match award, and Jamie Bagge made an impression when he came on.

Brentford scored twice in the last five minutes which gave them a very flattering scoreline.

With only a two hour turnaround between the first two games, this really worked against Rovers when playing sides of this calibre.

Pompey got an early goal which Rovers never really recovered from. The defence of Aaron Pearse, Daniel Greenland, Connor Long and Ben Logan worked tirelessly throughout the game and all made a fantastic contribution, with some great tackles.

Rovers had a their chances too, though the ball never really fell kindly for them. Both Scott Redman and Georgie Hathaway worked relentlessly in midfield, and Ben Kidson made some great runs down the Portsmouth right flank.

Despite their valiant effort it was not going to be Rovers day, Pompey went on to score twice more, and when a mysterious off-side decision went against Rovers it just added to a frustrating afternoon. Despite the score line Honiton should be proud of their effort.

This was a very tough game between two evenly matched sides, in which both teams worked each others defence throughout.

Ollie Reed had a great debut and was involved in Honiton's first real chance when Harry Wright was denied by the Newquay keeper, midway through the half Todd Lewendon latched onto a throughball from Billy Reed and made no mistake in slotting the ball home to give Rovers the lead.

Rovers keeper Cody Northcott was excellent, in not only keeping a clean sheet, but also in the way he commanded his area throughout the match. The second half was much the same as the first with both sides going all out for goals. It was Rovers who came closest with both Ben Kidson, and a brilliant bicycle kick from Billy Penwarden which almost added their names to the Honiton scoresheet.

Rovers held on to record a deserved but tough fought victory.

Rovers playing against the wind in the first half took the game to Porth from the off, and were quickly rewarded for their pressure on their opponents goal when some great work down the right involving Scott Redman and Georgie Hathaway released Todd Lewendon who calmly put the ball past the keeper.

Todd Lewendon then put Rovers two too the good, in similar circumstances to the first goal to give Rovers a deserved two goal cushion at half time. A mention should also go to Kieran Murphy and Connor Long who linked well on the left and both had great games, and Billy Reed seemed to be involved in almost everything good Honiton had to offer.

Cody Northcott was again immense between the Honiton posts and was unlucky when a slight misunderstanding led to Porth pulling a goal back midway through the half. Honiton rallied and Harry Wright was unlucky when he hit the post, and man of the match Aaron Pearse saw his free-kick hit the bar  in the second half.

Rovers saw out the rest of the match to record a deserved second victory.

Summary

The teams Honiton Town Rovers came up against in this Tournament were of a very, very high standard and the boys should be extremely proud of their achievements. They more than proved that they can give the best teams about a good run for their money.

Photo Gallery

More photo's can be found at.............http://www.cornwall-photos.com/subcat/3350/westcountry-cup-2008