10 man Larks hold Manor Farm

The Larks kept their unbeaten record going with a gutsy home performance against Bristol Manor Farm.

The visitors shaded the first half with their strong forward line keeping the home side defence busy. Although the Larks won the first corner of the game Manor Farm scored first through Ben Bament after two efforts on goal were parried by Chris Humphries, standing in for Shaun Semmens in the home goal.

Going behind seemed to fire the home side up and Sam Crumb levelled with a fine strike from the edge of the area having beaten the offside trap as well as Manor Farm keeper Ben John.

Shortly before half time there was a fracas around the ref after a foul by Larkhall defender Jack Camm and tempers started to rise. In what was widely considered to be a harsh decision the Larks’ number 2 saw red and it looked like the second half would be a struggle for the home side.

It certainly seemed that way when striker Owen Howe beat Humphries from close range to give the visitors the lead. However, Larkhall showed great character to capitalise on a number of early substitutions. One of these, midfielder Dale Evans, came close with a free kick and the Larks started to dominate the final stages of the game. Striker Lewis Powell set up the decisive equaliser by keeping the ball under pressure from the Manor Farm defence, passing to Joe Hillard, who then crossed for Crumb to nod home. Alex Lambert then got very close to winning the game late on, but John pulled off a full stretch save to force out his diagonal strike.

Man of the match: Sam Crumb