🟡 Falmouth chief hails ‘another great day’ as ten-man Town triumph in FA Vase
Plus, reaction from St Austell and Saltash United after their contrasting Vase results, as well as words from Mousehole and St Blazey and this week's women's football round-up.
⬇️ In today’s newsletter ⬇️
🟡 Falmouth: Westgarth hails ‘another great day’ as ten-man Town triumph in FA Vase
📸 IN PICTURES: Falmouth Town 3-0 Moneyfields
⚪ St Austell: Knight delighted with ‘excellent’ squad after ‘famous win’ at Buckland
🔴 Saltash: Brown fumes over refereeing decisions as Ashes exit Vase
🟢 Mousehole: ‘Mad five-minute spell’ frustrates Ash after Wimborne loss
🟢 St Blazey: Richardson admits team were naive in high-scoring Wellington win
⚽ Women’s football round-up
Enjoy. 〓〓
🟡 Falmouth: Westgarth hails ‘another great day’ as ten-man Town triumph in FA Vase
By Matt Friday at Bickland Park
Boss Andrew Westgarth declared Saturday ‘another great day’ for Falmouth Town after they secured their place in the third round proper of the FA Vase with a 3-0 win over Moneyfields.
The damage was done after little more than seven minutes at Bickland Park as Alex Wharton and Bradley Leivers gave Town an early two-goal lead before Luke Brabyn extended the advantage midway through the half.
Falmouth midfielder Luke Barner was sent off for an off-the-ball incident shortly after the third, but the Moneys gave up their advantage early in the second half when skipper Tom Jeffes scythed Brabyn down in the box.
Brabyn's spot-kick was saved but it was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, and Westgarth's side can now look forward to a trip to Western League colleagues Barnstaple Town in the third round on December 2.
”There’s something special about Falmouth Town and Vase days at Bickland Park, isn’t there?” Westgarth said after the game. “We had the perfect start, I think it was 28 seconds and you couldn’t have asked for anything better. We did a bit of research on them and knew that they scored a lot of goals off set pieces so it was really pleasing for us to score [from two of our own]. You don’t know that much about opposition players so the task today was a case of maximising our strengths and then trying to capitalise on their weaknesses.
“The game changes massively on the [first] red card. Our approach to the game changed and our tactics changed, but I thought to a man we were outstanding, considering they came into the game the more fancied side. They’re top of the league and flying, they’ve got goals galore, I think their top goalscorers have got 20 each and our top goalscorer has got seven.
“For us to be 3-0 up and to have to deal with 11 versus 10 and I don’t think we looked out of place. They didn’t offer a lot and I don’t think they had their first shot until the 88th minute which Morgan [Coxhead] saved. To have 11 clean sheets in 19 games is testament to the boys and it’s just another great day.”
Town's afternoon got off to the best possible start as Wharton opened the scoring barely 30 seconds after kick-off. The winger beat his man for pace to meet Brabyn's through ball and coolly arrowed it into the far corner.
Moneys frontman Stan Bridgeman and Falmouth's Cam Hutchison then traded efforts in a frenetic start at Bickland Park before the Town midfielder provided the corner delivery for Leivers to head in the hosts' second in only the eighth minute.
The high-octane start to proceedings continued with Hutchison and Brabyn both coming agonisingly close to a third goal. Their disappointment didn't last long, however, with another of the former's corners being prodded home by the latter for the rampant hosts' third midway through the half.
It was one-way traffic in west Cornwall but the Hampshire outfit, who sit at the Wessex Football League summit, were handed an undeserved lifeline moments later when Barner was curiously sent off following an off-the-ball altercation with Moneys defender Jack Lee.
But the visitors failed to capitalise and evened up the numbers ten minutes after the turnaround. Jeffes bundled Brabyn over in the box as the Town man shaped to shoot and left referee Tom Anstice-Mitchell with no choice but to brandish a red card.
A converted penalty would have rubber-stamped Town's progression but Brabyn's kick was well saved by visiting custodian Dylan Kramer, who thwarted the Falmouth forward again from the resulting corner.
But it didn’t matter as an underwhelming Moneys side, who have only lost once in the Wessex League this season, failed to trouble Falmouth gloveman Morgan Coxhead until deep into stoppage time as Town cruised into Monday's third round proper draw.
“I’ve got to give massive respect to the players [for how they responded to the red card],” Westgarth said. “Barner, he’s been with us for five years and never had a red card. I do trust him and I’ve got to take his word for it but I’ve got to respect the referee, I asked him and he’s given his reasons so I’ve got to accept it. It is what it is, but I thought to a man the boys [were brilliant], they knew they had to dig in [and they were excellent].
“Sometimes I feel sorry for the defence because they don’t get the headlines with goals and winning the games, but [that’s] another clean sheet for Morgan [Coxhead]. He had massive shoes to fill in replacing Ryan Barnes, one of the best goalkeepers this county has seen for a long time, for him to come into that environment and get 11 clean sheets in 19 games is outstanding.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the group today. I know it’s easy to get carried away when you win and everything’s amazing and fluffy and great, but it really was. I thought the boys were brilliant today.”
Speaking before Monday’s draw, Westgarth added: “It’s been a really good month. We know October was a really defining month for us; you're in the Vase, the League Cup and the Senior Cup. We were disappointed with the Les Phillips Cup obviously [having lost to Helston Athletic], but we’ve got to the third round [of the Vase] before and never got past it, agonisingly losing to Christchurch on penalties [in 2020] was probably the closest we got.
“Hopefully the draw is kind to us and I’m sure St Austell are in the same boat as us in that we definitely don’t want them. Not because we fear them but because in the FA Vase you want to test yourselves against other sides.”
📸 IN PICTURES: Falmouth Town 3-0 Moneyfields
By Colin Bradbury
Check out our selection of photos from Falmouth Town’s three-goal victory over Moneyfields in the FA Vase on Saturday.
⚪ St Austell: Knight delighted with ‘excellent’ squad after ‘famous win’ at Buckland
By Matt Friday
St Austell chief Chris Knight heaped praise on his squad after Town pulled off a ‘famous’ FA Vase giant-killing in defeating Western League outfit Buckland Athletic 3-1 on their own patch.
The Lillywhites, who famously reached the semi-finals in 2015, secured another fantastic Vase result as the South West Peninsula League Premier West high-flyers were one of two teams to see off higher-division opponents away from home — with Saltash United’s conquerors Downton the other.
St Austell — whose run to the fourth round proper in 2019 is the joint best any Cornish team has done since their own run to the last four in 2015 — led at Homers Heath through Adam Carter before Jake Miller doubled the advantage early in the second half.
The hosts hit back through Jared Lewington but were dealt an ultimately fatal blow when skipper Rob Farkins was sent off, with Miller’s late strike setting up a third round proper tie at home to Newquay’s conquerors Highworth Town next month.
It capped off a memorable week of cup success for Town, who beat Buckland’s Western League colleagues Saltash 1-0 in their Cornwall Senior Cup second round tie on Tuesday night.
Knight’s men are one of only six step six sides to make it through to the last 64 stage — with another three hoping to join them later this week — and an overjoyed St Austell chief feels his side fully deserve their success.
“They worked their socks off for each other, subs included, and we came away with a famous win. The players deserve it.”
“I’m delighted with the day, obviously firstly for my players who to a man left everything out on that pitch and for the supporters who travelled in numbers to cheer them on. It was a great day for our club,” Knight said.
“Sometimes you have days where things go wrong and you can’t quite get it together which we had at Bodmin [in the league] and I'll be honest we had some disagreements in that game, all of us, but Saturday shows you what these players are about. They worked their socks off for each other, subs included, and we came away with a famous win. The players deserve it.
“The leadership in the team is incredible, obviously the captain [Neil Slateford] speaks for himself but people like Brokes [Olly Brokenshire], Tom Whipp, Carts [Adam Carter] and Jake [Miller] come alive for these games and they led the group brilliantly. I thought both full backs were incredible; Noah Teagle, 17 years old in a game of that size [and he was] brilliant and I don’t think there is a blade of grass Matt Searle didn’t cover. We were excellent to a man.
“You also need your squad on these days and I thought Marris and Connor Wharton off the bench stretched the game brilliantly, and of course last but not least Liam Eddy — his attitude and commitment to the club have been unreal this season. He hasn’t moaned or complained having been in and out and Saturday shows he’s still an amazing player.”
🔴 Saltash: Brown fumes over refereeing decisions as Ashes exit Vase
By Gareth Davies at Kimberley Stadium
Boss Mackenzie Brown has blasted the performance of referee Will Bennett after Saltash United were dumped out of the FA Vase by Wessex League side Downton at Kimberley on Saturday.
Bidding to make it past round two for only the fourth time in their history, the Ashes were defeated 1-0 with visiting substitute Harrison Clarke netting the all-important winner in the second stanza.
But Saltash and Brown were left to rue Bennett’s handing of two pivotal moments in the game. Firstly, he bizarrely let Downton defender Alfie Hawke decide if the ball was on the penalty spot after lively winger Joe Preece was fouled inside the box 11 minutes shy of the interval.
The delay certainly had a detrimental effect on home striker Jordan Ewing, who saw his weak penalty saved by visiting custodian Will Betts.
After the break, Josh Toulson was then sent off for two bookable offences, both which occurred in the same passage of in-game play – something this correspondent has never seen in 35 years of watching the beautiful game.
“The main talking point for me was the penalty and I’m incensed by it if I’m quite honest,” fumed Brown. “(The referee) has given a penalty, it was a good decision, that’s absolutely fine and we’re set ready to go.
“He then asks their player to check (if the ball is on the spot), then moves the ball and it was an absolute farce. I don’t know how it looked for the side and how (the referee) is allowed to do that but then he blows the whistle so Jordan has to go and take (the penalty).
“I felt like everything that can go against us at the moment is.”
“It was an absolutely shambolic decision and the referee has got to be stronger as he lacked authority until the moment came with the red card. The referee thought ‘I can do something that referees never get to do, with 200 people watching on the sideline, I can make a decision today that’s a little bit different’.
“That’s what the red card looked like and perhaps as a manager I would be asking for the same thing as it is braindead from JT (Toulson).
“However, what I will say is that the referee must use his common sense. If the first foul is bad enough for a yellow card, then he stops the game and books (Toulson). But he lets it run on, there is another foul and everyone could see it coming, to set (Toulson) up to get him into trouble and that is poor game management by the referee.
“In the big moments today, he has let us down and we have let ourselves down too with Jordan missing a penalty and JT getting himself sent off. I felt like everything that can go against us at the moment is and next week, we have to leave that changing room at Brixham, not expecting any favours from anybody else, as we have to do the business.”
Despite the two controversial incidents involving the match official, Brown praised his side who, on another day, could have been on the right side of the scoreline and a place in the third round.
Preece’s pace and skill troubled Downton during the first half and after Ewing’s penalty miss, Saltash had the ball cleared off the line after Hayden Greening headed towards goal.
“The red card happened quite early and playing almost half an hour with ten men flipped the game on its head massively.”
Then, shortly after falling behind, the hosts had a goal correctly chalked off for offside but after losing to Bridgwater in the league and St Austell in the Senior Cup, Downton held on to inflict a third defeat in seven days for Brown’s charges.
He added: “I thought we were fantastic in the first half, going down the slope. Our problem is that when we are on top we are not killing games off and it was the same on Tuesday night against St Austell. First 20-25 minutes we had one off the line but we have to be more clinical.
“Second half (against Downton) it was more difficult because the game started off quite scrappy with a couple of openings and not much in it. Then the red card happened quite early and playing almost half an hour with ten men flipped the game on its head massively.
“Even then we had good chances but really, we are not doing enough in both boxes. The goal was so poor for us and Laurence (Murray) has to clear his lines. He basically passed it to their centre forward and it is moments like that are working against us.
“We have done enough to win three games of football in the last week against Bridgwater when we hit the post twice and these fine details are going against us. St Austell in mid-week we created enough chances to win the game and we did enough to win the game today.”
🟢 Mousehole: ‘Mad five-minute spell’ frustrates Ash after Wimborne loss
By Pablo Woolls-Blanco at New Cuthbury
Mousehole manager Jake Ash left with an ‘overriding sense of frustration’ as the Seagulls lost 3-2 at tabletoppers Wimborne Town.
Mousehole played out another entertaining five-goal thriller at the New Cuthbury Stadium on Saturday afternoon but were struck by three second-half goals in the space of 15 minutes as they slipped to sixth in the Southern League Division One South.
Mousehole’s leading scorer Jack Bray-Evans finished off a superb passing move which included a fine assist from Alex Cairo in the 14th minute, and despite consistent pressure from the home side, Ash’s men made it in at half-time one goal to the good.
Wimborne ramped up the pressure in the second period and bagged three quickfire goals after a dominant spell, with Connor Cocklin starting the turnaround with a header in the 51st minute, followed by another headed goal from Harry Morgan in the 61st, before forward Lewis Beale added a third with a sweetly-struck finish in the 65th minute.
An 82nd-minute finish from substitute Hayden Turner wasn’t enough to earn Mousehole a point on the road, as after several crucial interventions from Ollie Chenoweth in the Seagulls’ goal, it was a heroic goal-line intervention from Cocklin which prevented Mousehole from snatching an equaliser in the dying seconds.
"I thought in the first half we probably deserved the lead,” Ash said. “I thought we managed the game really well. I was really proud of the boys at half-time, and then there was just a mad five-minute spell. I’m frustrated… it's tough to find the words; you don’t want to get angry about it. We’ve come up to two of the toughest teams in Frome and Wimborne and you can see that element of naivety about us at this level.
“But it’s not far away — we’re competing with big clubs. We very nearly nicked it at the end, but I don’t think we should have even been in that position. I’m really proud of the performance as a whole, other than maybe a 10-, 15-minute spell, I thought we were well in the game.
“Credit to them — but it’s a great day for us in terms of the way the boys played and turned up on a big occasion. So, look, the overriding sense is absolute frustration, but there was enough to like there.”
🟢 St Blazey: Richardson admits team were naive in high-scoring Wellington win
By Tom Howe at Blaise Park
Joint-manager Bradley Richardson admits St Blazey need to be 'understanding' of where they are in terms of their development, following Saturday's nailbiting 5-3 Western League win over Wellington.
The hosts fielded a young team for the visit of the Premier Division strugglers, who travelled to Cornwall on the back of six straight defeats but found themselves ahead following a 17th minute strike from defender Jordan Hayman. Ryan Downing levelled terms soon after, before Owen Pritchard curled in the goal of the game to put Blazey ahead for the first time.
They assumed control of the tie thanks to skipper Luke Cloke, who doubled his side's advantage before the break, and looked home and hosed when Hayman was given his marching orders for a rash challenge on Downing after the hour.
Sam Clifton netted a fourth but, following a raft of substitutions for the home side, Ryan Brereton immediately pulled a goal back against what had become a rather haphazard Blazey outfit. Cloke restored a three-goal margin for the hosts, before the ten-men Tangerines concluded the scoring through Sully McKenna four minutes from time.
“We changed the formation a little bit today to try and emphasise getting a bit more forward, being more attacking and playing down the side of teams," said Richardson, in discussion with Cornwall Sports Media. “I thought that going forward we looked really good.
“If I am being completely honest, we were never in trouble in the game, after the first ten or 15 minutes [that is]. When you make five subs though, I think that you are always going to get a little bit disjointed.
“We are a new team and were a little bit naive as a side. [We] haven’t bedded in properly yet after all the changes that we made in the summer but are a side that has potential and can kick on.
“[The end of the game] was a little bit sloppy and that does take the gloss off it a little bit but we have scored nine goals in a week, after a spell in which we didn't really look like creating chances. We have changed things around a bit and look a bit more free flowing.”
“Against Street we conceded two, today we conceded three. We can't keep doing it and scoring three goals to win a game.”
A fourth Premier Division win of the season saw the promoted South West Peninsula West champions leapfrog this Saturday's opponents, Ilfracombe Town, and move into 12th place in the standings.
Richardson's charges are yet to win away from home in the league this term but edged Clem Bennellick's side by the odd goal in five in the reverse fixture at the start of September.
“[Ilfracombe are] always going to be a tough one,” said Richardson when previewing the fixture. “We had a good battle with them at home here. We got away with it a bit and won 3-2 which I think was deserved but it was another day in which we conceded silly goals.
“I have said to the lads, you can't keep scoring three goals to win a game. Against Street we conceded two, today we conceded three. We can't keep doing it and scoring three goals to win a game.
“That's what happens when you go with a lot of kids and we have got a lot [of them] in this team. I think we have seven players aged under 20. We have got to be a little bit understanding of what we are doing and help them learn.
“That is our job, to do that. We have got plenty of lads here who could kick on and do really well in football but it is our job to make them do that, make them listen and make them learn.”
Richardson reserved the final word for one of those young players, Tavistock loanee Pritchard, who lit up a dreary Blaise Park with a first-half finish to remember.
“He scored a great goal and the boy's got huge talent. He has come in and scored an absolute worldy which has put us on our way. It was a great goal.”
⚽ Women’s football round-up
By Matt Friday
Cornish interest in the FA Women’s Cup is over for another year after neither Helston Athletic or Sticker could upset the odds to become the first Duchy side to reach the second round proper.
It wasn’t to be for the South West Regional Women’s Football League Western Division pair with Helston going down 8-0 to an Exeter City side ranked two divisions above them, while Sticker fell to a 4-0 reverse at the hands of Southern Region Women's Football League Division One leaders AFC Stoneham.
St Austell’s early cup exit meant they were in SWRWFL Premier Division action instead, with Town prevailing over Pucklechurch Sports by the odd goal in five thanks to a hat-trick from Lucy Solloway.
Elsewhere, goals from Annmarie Latham, Leanne Stanbury and Katy Woodhams gave Bude Town a 3-0 victory over previously unbeaten leaders RNAS Culdrose in the only Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 1 game at the weekend.
There were four games in Division 2, with FXSU running out 10-1 winners at home to Wendron United while tabletoppers Lanner put 13 goals past Charlestown, who replied with three of their own.
Hannah Welch’s effort was the difference as Ludgvan defeated Redruth United by a single goal, while Eleanor Brown (2), Zoe Shilson, Sadie Wakelam and Isabel Jones netted for Padstow United in their 5-1 triumph at bottom side Troon.
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