⚽️ Cornwall Football: 'I'm playing with a smile on my face' - Lee Rickard's fresh start at Foxhole
After 16 years at boyhood club St Dennis, Lee Rickard is loving his new challenge at high-flying East Cornwall Premier League outfit Foxhole Stars, and it's not hard to see why...
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⬇️ Inside today’s newsletter ⬇️
⚽️ 'I'm playing with a smile on my face' - Lee Rickard's fresh start at Foxhole
✅ Ashes advance after beating Torpoint (again)
🏆 Senior Cup semi-finalists discover their fate
👀 What’s on this weekend
⚽️ 'I'm playing with a smile on my face' - Lee Rickard's fresh start at Foxhole
By Tom Howe
Foxhole Stars are flying. The highest ranked team in Cornwall yet to taste defeat this season, they sit three points off the summit in the East Cornwall Premier League with as many games in hand.
Their domestic form boasts 66 goals scored and only six conceded, with respective Intermediate and League Cup semi-finals against St Dominick and St Stephen approaching.
Young manager Seth Couch presided over a 13th consecutive win in all competitions on Saturday when the Foxes used all their cunning to dismantle rivals St Columb Major by five goals to nil.
Leading from the front is skipper Lee Rickard who, following 16 years with boyhood club St Dennis, stepped away from his comfort zone to embrace a new challenge further down the pyramid.
“Our season has become a very enjoyable one,” he told Cornwall Sports Media. “Winning games is a huge part of that but Seth has built a very strong squad on the pitch as well as off it. We all stay and have a beer after games and we are all mates. The feeling at the club is extremely good.
“Personally, I’m really enjoying my football. I’ve dropped to centre-half after being a striker for the biggest part of my playing days. Building a decent partnership with Angel Coates has made a big difference. There is a great understanding between us which makes my job that little bit easier.
“I’m playing with a smile on my face and consider myself a senior member of the squad. Seth made me club captain and I’m thriving off that going into games and playing with plenty of confidence.
“My aspiration now is to just keep doing what we’re doing as a club. We have a successful first team as well as a reserve side, veterans side and a women’s side all doing well in their respective leagues. The club is on a high and in a really good place right now.”
Having all but dominated the East Cornwall Premier League (ECPL) for a number of years, Foxhole went on to become founder members of South West Peninsula League (SWPL) Division One West in 2007/08.
They stepped away in 2014 ‘following a loss of manager and players’ and so the rebuild began. Fast forward almost a decade and their all-star cast, including a near 40-goal strike force in Benno Bould and Courtney Rowe, have found the sweet spot once more.
When quizzed on his experience of ECPL football, having played so long in the SWPL, Rickard replied: “The standards are obviously some way apart. I personally feel that the standard has somewhat dropped a little from the SWPL. You only have a certain number of teams competing against each other.
“The East Cornwall has a lot of local derbies which was one of the reasons I decided to make the move, to start playing a lot more locally now that I'm getting that bit older. I’m slowing down a little bit and am at a stage where I just want to enjoy my football, not take it too seriously and play with a smile on my face.
“My chapter at St Dennis is shut. I spent 16 years of my playing career there. Doing the pitch on Fridays with my dad for as long as I can remember took a bit of a toll but it’s something I don’t regret. St Dennis was always my club and I played many years with my best mates.
“It was time for a change. Although it was something I didn’t take lightly, I did it because I felt I was ready. I check up on how they are getting on and things but a fresh start was good for me and a decision I am happy to have made.”
The Stars host mid-table St Minver this Saturday before entertaining current league leaders North Petherwin the following weekend, a game in which Foxhole will no doubt be looking to assert an authority to ultimately take over top spot.
“Seth has set a high level of expectations with the squad he’s built,” concluded Rickard, “but we all go into every game with the same attitude and mentality, wanting to work for each other and put the effort into every game while enjoying it along the way.
“Our plan is to keep doing what we’re doing, not to go into the second half of the season over confident but to keep playing the football we have been.
“Things will then come naturally in the sense of winning trophies, which is our target come May.
“We have a possible three to get our hands on and that’s Seth’s, the players’ and the club's target to achieve.”
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✅ Ashes advance after beating Torpoint (again)
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
That old adage certainly rang true for Saltash United this week as they defeated Torpoint Athletic in the Les Phillips Cup at the second time of asking.
After beating Torpoint 2-1 in their tie on December 6, it seemed as if the Waterways Stadium outfit were safely through to the next round. That is, until it emerged that the Ashes had used too many substitutes in the game.
Fast forward to Tuesday night and the two east Cornwall rivals took to the field in Saltash to battle for a spot in the Last 16 once again, and once again, the hosts prevailed.
Danny Lewis’ men didn’t have it all their own way, though, as Torpoint enjoyed a 2-1 advantage at the break, with Ryan Richards striking twice against his former side to cancel out George Spencer’s opener for the hosts.
But the Western League pacesetters shifted through the gears after the turnaround with Sam Farrant, Adam Carter, Sam Hughes and Harrison Davis all netting to finally secure progression - despite playing the final 13 minutes with outfield player Sam Leary between the sticks after goalkeeper Jordan Duffey was sent off.
Elsewhere in the cup:
Buckland Athletic 2-0 Mousehole
In-form Mousehole may be enjoying a 17-game unbeaten run in the Western League but their cup hopes are over for another season after they came up short at Buckland on Tuesday night, with Rob Farkins and Scott Crocker netting for the Devon outfit.Falmouth Town 3-1 Barnstaple Town
Two goals from top scorer Tim Nixon helped Falmouth see off Barnstaple, with the tie finally being played on Wednesday night at the fifth attempt. Olly Walker had opened the scoring for Town, while Tor Swann bagged a consolation for Barum.
Elsewhere, Liskeard Athletic closed the gap on the South West Peninsula League Premier West frontrunners with a 2-0 victory over St Austell on Tuesday night.
Second-half efforts from Macauley Thorp and Dan Jennings gave the fifth-placed Blues their 12th win of the season to move them to within five points of Bude Town in fourth, with the north Cornwall outfit having played four more games.
📈 The top of the SWPL:
Wendron United, 53pts
Wadebridge Town, 50pts
St Blazey, 45pts
Bude Town, 45pts
Liskeard Athletic, 40pts
🏆 Senior Cup semi-finalists discover their fate
Western League Premier Division leaders Saltash United will face divisional rivals Helston Athletic in the Cornwall Senior Cup semi-finals after the draw was made on Tuesday afternoon.
SWPL Premier West tabletoppers Wendron United will take on either fellow SWPL outfit Liskeard Athletic or Western League side Millbrook, with their opponents to be confirmed pending the outcome of an appeal after the Blues were charged for fielding an ineligible player in the previous round.
Liskeard were due to join Helston, Saltash and Wendron in Tuesday’s draw after defeating Millbrook 2-1 in their quarter-final tie on January 17, but their participation is in doubt after the Brook lodged an appeal against the result.
The Blues, who have won the competition eight times, have been charged for fielding an ineligible player, but have denied any wrongdoing and will state their case in a hearing this week.
Last year’s finalists Wendron booked their place in the final four with a 2-0 extra-time win at Penzance, while Liskeard came from a goal down to defeat Millbrook in their tie.
Ten-time winners Saltash came from behind to defeat Wadebridge Town 5-4 in a remarkable game at Waterways Stadium, while Helston were handed a walkover after scheduled opponents Godolphin Atlantic folded.
The semi-finals are due to be played on Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15, with neutral venues to be determined shortly.
📸 The midweek action in photos
FALMOUTH - Tim Nixon (centre) celebrates his second goal of the night as his Falmouth Town side prevailed 3-1 over Barnstaple Town in the Les Phillips Cup on Wednesday night.
👀 What’s on this weekend
⚽️League One: Saturday, 3pm: Sheffield Wednesday v Plymouth Argyle.
⚽️Southern League Premier South: Saturday, 3pm: Truro City v Yate Town.
⚽️Western League: Saturday, 3pm (unless stated): Barnstaple Town v Millbrook (2pm); Clevedon Town v Falmouth Town; Ilfracombe Town v Helston Athletic; Mousehole v Cadbury Heath; Saltash United v Sherborne Town; Torpoint Athletic v Street.
⚽️South West Peninsula League Premier West: Saturday, 3pm: Bodmin Town v Wendron United; Bude Town v Wadebridge Town; Dobwalls v St Blazey; Newquay v Mullion; Penzance v Camelford; Sticker v Callington Town.
🏆Cornwall Women’s Cup quarter-finals: Sunday, 2pm: Bodmin v Mousehole; Penryn v Liskeard Athletic; St Agnes v Foxhole Stars.
⚽️FA Women’s National League Division One South West: Sunday, 2pm: Southampton v St Austell.
⚽️South West Regional Women’s Football League Western Division: Sunday, 2pm: Feniton v Saltash United; Marine Academy Plymouth v Sticker.
⚽️Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 1: Sunday, 2pm (unless stated): Helston Athletic v Bude Town; RNAS Culdrose v Saltash Borough (2.30pm).
⚽️Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 2: Sunday, 2pm (unless stated): Charlestown v Wadebridge Town; Ludgvan v Callington Town; Redruth United v Dropship.
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