🟡 ‘Big performance’ pleases Falmouth boss as Town reach FA Vase fourth round
Plus, reaction from Truro City chief Paul Wotton, St Austell's Chris Knight and Mousehole manager Jake Ash, and this week's women's football round-up.
⬇️ In today’s newsletter ⬇️
🟡 Falmouth: ‘Big performance’ pleases Westgarth as Town reach FA Vase fourth round
⚪ Truro: St Albans win completes a great week, says City chief Wotton
⚪ St Austell: ‘Contrasting emotions’ for Knight after shootout defeat
🟢 Mousehole: Ash ‘proud’ as Seagulls end four-game losing run
⚽ Women’s football round-up
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🟡 Falmouth: ‘Big performance’ pleases Westgarth as Town reach FA Vase fourth round
By Matt Friday
Falmouth Town manager Andrew Westgarth expressed his delight after Town clinched their place in the fourth round proper of the FA Vase for the first time since 2001.
After being eliminated by Wessex League outfit Christchurch in the third round proper in successive seasons in 2019 and 2020, it was third time lucky for Westgarth and his team on Saturday as they triumphed 2-1 at Western League colleagues Barnstaple Town.
Seven days after becoming the first team to defeat the Devonians in the league at Bickland Park, Town repeated the trick at Barum’s Mill Road with goals in either half from James Ward and Olly Walker.
Ward headed Falmouth in front after ten minutes when he got on the end of Tom Annear’s free kick, with Walker doubling the Cornish club’s advantage midway through the second half when he broke free down the left and fired into the far corner.
Brodie Montague’s close-range finish halved the deficit in stoppage time to make it a nervy finale in north Devon, but Westgarth’s side held out to set up a fourth round proper tie at home to Hartpury University on January 13.
“We travelled with a few out, [Luke] Barner and Grangey [Jacob Grange] were banned and Rubin [Wilson] was cup tied so it wasn’t the most experienced of benches but that wasn’t an issue — all the lads did really well,” Westgarth said.
“It’s always a challenge to play the same side back to back. We did it a couple times last season and fell short so I was delighted to win with two very big performances having been strong in both games.
“I’m delighted to get to the fourth round after falling short in the third round on a few occasions.
“It was always going to be a little nervy and they had a big chance at the death which could have come back to bite us for missing all the chances we had.”
⚪ Truro: St Albans win completes a great week, says City chief Wotton
By Matt Friday
Truro City manager Paul Wotton hailed his side’s 3-1 win at home to St Albans City on Saturday as the perfect end to an excellent week for the club.
Last week became one of the most significant ones in the club’s history as a Canadian consortium led by Cornwall RLFC owner Eric Perez completed its takeover of City, with Perez then declaring that the team will make their long-awaited return to Truro next season.
Also announced was a new long-term contract for Wotton himself, who then led City to victory over the Saints at their temporary home at Bolitho Park on Saturday — capping the club’s historic week by recording back-to-back wins for the first time since the end of August.
Rocky Neal’s penalty on the stroke of half-time gave the hosts a slender advantage at the break, with the lead doubling early in the second half when Will Dean’s long-range effort took a fortuitous deflection off visiting custodian Josh McNamara.
Adam Porter made sure of the points for Wotton’s side late on with a tap-in from close range, with George Hoddle bagging a late consolation for the Saints in the dying embers.
“It’s been a great week. Back-to-back wins, new owners, and the announcement about the new ground,” Wotton said. “I’m really pleased for the boys, that their performance and the result could finish the week perfectly.
“I thought it took us 10-15 minutes to get up to the tempo of the game. I thought St Albans looked sharp and better on the ball than us. The lads started to do what I asked them to do, as in pressing when they had the ball.
“I thought we had some good chances. Harvey [Greenslade] and Rocky [Neal] had half-decent chances. Benno [Ben Adelsbury] had a good attempt from a corner. We got the penalty and Rocky kept his nerve to score it.
“St Albans changed shape [in the] second half which I always take as a compliment. We got a bit of a fortuitous second goal but it’s a great strike from Deano [Will Dean]. They would say it’s unlucky we would say it's fortunate.
“Hammy [James Hamon] makes a really important save at 2-0. We scored the third and saw the game out. We had to defend deep at times but ultimately Hammy had one save to make.
“It’s a fantastic three points and a really good performance. The boys were committed, they dug deep, and they can enjoy their night tonight.
“Our home form hasn’t been good enough. Let’s not beat around the bush, to lose four games at home isn’t good enough. Back-to-back wins always makes a difference.”
⚪ St Austell: ‘Contrasting emotions’ for Knight after shootout defeat
By Gareth Davies at Poltair Park
Boss Chris Knight was left with ‘contrasting emotions’ after his St Austell side suffered penalty heartache in the FA Vase against Highworth Town on Saturday.
In a pulsating clash, the Lillywhites raced into a 2-0 lead during a dominant first half thanks to Adam Carter’s audacious chip and a Neil Slateford penalty.
But Highworth cut the deficit in the dying embers of the first half through Rob Dean’s glancing header. And within three minutes of the restart, Rhys Wells’ low drive from the edge of the box restored parity.
The turnaround was seemingly completed 20 minutes from time when substitute Josh Davis scored from the spot. St Austell were almost down, but not quite out as Slateford’s brilliant near post header in the third minute of stoppage time sent the game to penalties.
But the home skipper missed the target with St Austell’s first effort and despite Harry Ashton saving two Highworth kicks, both Olly Brokenshire and Liam Eddy blazed over meaning the Hellenic League outfit prevailed 3-1.
“It was just one of those days and we move on.”
“I’ve got contrasting emotions because I thought we played really well on the day,” Knight said at full-time. “Against higher league opposition, to go 2-0 up, I thought we were cruising, but the goal before half-time kills us really.
“They were then in the ascendancy at the start of the second half but to come from 3-2 down shows the fight that we have got and we have performed like that all season.
“Once it goes to penalties it is a lottery and it is disappointing that there is no extra-time in this competition. After we scored the [third] goal, we are arguably the better team and we could have gone on to win the game, but that isn’t sour grapes.
“They deserved to go through as their penalties were better than ours and even though our goalkeeper Harry Ashton was fantastic, you can’t blame any of our players that missed [penalties].
“They are lads that have been there, seen it all and we wouldn’t have been in that position if Slates hadn’t scored near the end. It was just one of those days and we move on.”
🟢 Mousehole: Ash ‘proud’ as Seagulls end four-game losing run
By Pablo Woolls-Blanco
Mousehole manager Jake Ash declared himself ‘proud’ as his side battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at home to Larkhall Athletic.
The Seagulls earned themselves a point at Trungle Parc on Saturday afternoon, after a resilient performance that saw them play the final 30 minutes with ten men.
Mousehole opened the scoring in the 20th minute after a dominant start, as Tim Nixon’s composure allowed him to go round Jack Arther in the Larkhall goal before slotting into an empty net. Seconds from half-time, Archie Ferris levelled the scoring with a slick header into the bottom corner.
Mousehole huffed and puffed in the second half, but were struck with a slice of bad luck as half-time substitute Josh Otto was forced to leave the field through injury, and with the Seagulls having already made all three changes, they were forced to play out the remainder of the game with ten men.
“Unbelievable performance — I’m so proud of them.” Ash said. “It is unbelievable the things not quite going for us at the minute, you just couldn’t write it. That said, the organisation, resilience and determination [we’ve shown] to get a point… and that was really important because they thoroughly deserved it. We’re delighted with the point and it was a real performance to be proud of, given the circumstances again.
“I’ve seen enough good things and I’ve said to the boys there — that needs to be for them a massive building block because they’ve shown huge resilience, huge character and huge quality at times as well. So, it’s a really good day for us even though it’s a point and we’re not used to celebrating points.
“We've said before it’s hard to get points in this league, but we’ll celebrate that having played with ten [men] for half an hour and with so much to be pleased about. It’s a busy period with so many games, but that was great.”
⚽ Women’s football round-up
By Matt Friday
There were mixed emotions for Liskeard Athletic and St Austell as both teams came out on either side of 3-2 results in the South West Regional Women’s Football League Premier Division.
Tiana Campbell scored a hat-trick as sixth-placed Liskeard triumphed by the odd goal in five at home to Bishops Lydeard, who responded through Imogen Miller and Amy Blowers.
But St Austell were on the wrong end of their result, with Lucy Grose and Kayleigh Brown netting for the Lillywhites as they eventually went down at Frampton Rangers, who scored through Mollie Bourne, Saffron Degg and Kelly Jones.
Saltash United prevailed in the all-Cornwall affair in SWRWFL Western Division, with Katie Hengle and Hayley Ranachan finding the net in a 2-1 win at home to Helston Athletic for whom Beth Prouse halved the deficit.
But it was a much more straightforward afternoon for Sticker, who cruised to a 10-1 victory at Bideford. Top scorer Tori Marks bagged a five-timer for the mid-Cornwall outfit, with Lauren Bennett (2), Tori Crutchley, Chloe Harris and Angelee Robinson also getting on the scoresheet.
Elsewhere, Izzy Knights scored a brace as Bodmin defeated Bude Town 4-1 at Broadclose Park in the only Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 1 game on Sunday. Elizabeth Mears and Lilly Wright completed the visitors’ scoring, while Rebecca Feltham found the net for the home side.
FXSU climbed to the top of the CWFL Division 2 table as they continued their 100 per cent start to the season with a 3-0 win at Callington Town, while Emma Bate and Amy Honeywill cancelled out Tylah Gardiner and Katie Keillor’s goals as Padstow United fought back to draw 2-2 at home to Ludgvan.
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