PAULTON Rovers fought out a 1-1 away draw against St Blazey in the Premier Division of the Jewson Western League in a game fraught with controversy.

The Cornish side took a five-minute lead; a loose ball fell to Sam Clifton to sweep home. This injected life in Paulton as a low left wing corner from Joel Smedley was controlled by veteran striker Dean Griffiths who turned quickly but fired his shot wide.

Rovers had a great chance on 25 minutes as Kitan Jaiyeboa saw his volley twice blocked by the home defence.

A neat move from Teighan Rosenquest found Elliott but Kelsey safely watched the ball sail over his bar.

With halftime approaching a through ball saw a heavy tackle on Jaiyeboa in the area. It looked a clear penalty for Rovers, but a melee ensued and after the referee consulted his assistant Griffiths was shown a red card.

Ten-man Paulton came out for the second half in determined mood as Kyle Witt’s free kick was saved by home stopper Kyle Moore.

Soon after Rio Daly was red carded for a poor tackle on Rovers’ Dylan Gould. Paulton piled on the pressure and Lenihan’s deep cross on the right was mis-handled by Moore.

Clifton then tested Kelsey who was having a sound game in the visitors’ goal.

The equaliser came on 65 minutes as Lenihan won a corner on the right taken by Witt. The ball fell to Kyle Simpson who found Jaiyeboa who dinked the ball past Moore into the net.

Five minutes later Lenihan played in Jaiyeboa who boring down on goal went down under a tackle by Bentley. As Rovers waited for the referee to point for a penaty, he inexplicably waived play on. And in the last few minutes Tom Bradley had a ‘goal’ controversially disallowed.

Tony Walsh