⚪️ Farnborough defeat leaves Truro boss with ‘mixed emotions’
City chief Paul Wotton was left with mixed emotions after his side were beaten 3-2 at Farnborough on Saturday.
⚪️ Farnborough defeat leaves Truro boss with ‘mixed emotions’
By Gareth Davies at Cherrywood Road
Boss Paul Wotton was left with mixed emotions after his Truro City side were defeated 3-2 by Farnborough at Cherrywood Road.
Twice during an entertaining clash City came from behind against the Yellows, who started the day just two places above Wotton’s charges in the National League South standings.
Firstly, Ed Palmer’s low left footed effort eight minutes before half time cancelled out Aaron Kuhl’s penalty. And in the second half, Ricky Holmes’ header put Farnborough 2-1 up only for Adam Porter to capitalise on poor home defending to draw City level again.
Both sides appeared to have settled for a share of the spoils but Hady Ghandour had other ideas, heading home two minutes from time to hand Farnborough all three points.
“I thought at times we were brilliant,” Wotton told trurocity.co.uk. “We had shots cleared off the line and hit the post but we lost 3-2. The reason we lost 3-2 is because we are not defending well enough.
“You would have taken 2-2 all day long because we have defended a million long balls. Our defenders must need bags of ice on their shoulders because of the long throws and we defended them magnificently.
“The one time we don’t defend a set-piece they score and ultimately, you don’t deserve to get anything from a football match if you concede three goals.
“With five minutes to go, I would have one hundred per cent taken a draw here and I kept saying to the players ‘do the basics.’
“But it appears to have gone in one ear and out the other. You need leaders at the end to stand up, stay out the box, head the ball, it’s 2-2, it’s game over.
“I thought at times, on the positive side, we played really, really well. (The chance) that hits the post in the first half, if that goes in it would have been goal of the season.
“It would have been so wasn’t and I’m fed up of saying I’m disappointed because that was a real chance for us.
“To score two goals away from home, we shouldn’t be losing the game. We need to get back to being hard to beat and I hate talking like this, because there were loads of positives.
“We played good football at times and Farnborough are what they are because for 90 minutes, balls are going to come into the box. I thought we defended it well, on three occasions we didn’t, we got punished.”
With City now facing a hectic end to the season with the side playing 18 games in 61 days, they have an instant chance to write the wrongs of this Farnborough reverse at Bath City on Tuesday evening.
“I wish we were playing tomorrow because I’m fuming,” Wotton added. “I hope the players are and I am sure they are in their own little ways. I can’t wait for Tuesday and the more games the better.”
Loss was ‘harsh’ on City — Sullivan
Dan Sullivan says that the 3-2 loss at Farnborough was harsh on his Truro City side.
The midfielder caught the eye in a losing cause for the visitors who drew themselves level on two separate occasions, only for Hady Ghandour to score the winning goal as time ticked down at Cherrywood Road.
“I didn’t think we deserved to lose,” he told trurocity.co.uk. “I thought we worked well and battled hard to get ourselves back in the game at 1-0. We then concede again but get back in the game once more.
“But we are giving away too many sloppy goals as a team and we need to cut that out. We are now five games without a win so we need to kick on, stop the silly goals and get three points on the board.
“We clawed ourselves back (into the game) only to then push all that hard work away by conceding in the final five minutes. We must also stop conceding the first goal because it is OK having good character, but if you concede the first goal, you leave yourself with a mountain to climb every week.”
Sullivan has mainly contributed from the bench this season but with City facing a hectic end of season schedule, the former Taunton Town man has started the previous two matches.
He had two chances to break his scoring duck for 2023-24 against Farnborough but fired one effort narrowly wide whilst the other was cleared off the line.
“I’ve been trying to work hard within the squad and all the boys have been brilliant,” Sullivan added. “If you are not in the squad, that’s unfortunate, but its football and you have to work hard to get back in.
“I haven’t scored yet this season so (one of his chances going in) would have been nice. Again, it isn’t about scoring, it’s more the three points. If we can get back to winning that would be great and hopefully the goals start coming.
“We have 18 games left in nine weeks and everybody is going to be needed. Everyone wants to play and they will be disappointed if they don’t. When you are ready, if you perform, you will keep the shirt.”
🟢 Defiant Pilgrims succumb to defeat at the hands of Leeds United
By Colin Bradbury at Home Park
Plymouth Argyle will be glad to see the back of Leeds United after succumbing to the in-form Yorkshire side on Saturday, the fourth meeting between the clubs in league and FA Cup competitions this season.
Suspicion that Argyle head coach Ian Foster made a pragmatic decision to keep his powder dry for the visit of West Brom on Tuesday — the Pilgrims’ third game in seven days — goes some way to explaining the four changes from the starting line-up against Coventry City the previous Wednesday.
Facing what is essentially a Premier League squad valued at north of £200 million (assisted by a £45 million parachute payment that enabled them to maintain an expensive roster of players post-relegation) and on a run of seven league wins, Foster may well have decided that discretion was the better part of valour.
Leeds’ opener came in the tenth minute as Italian international Wilfred Gnonto poked home following confusion in the Argyle defence created by a high ball into the box. However it was another hour of play before the visitors doubled their advantage through a 72nd-minute Georginio Rutter effort, effectively ending the game as a contest.
Nevertheless, the numbers show that the home side limited the visitors to just two shots on target all game in a creditable performance. Morgan Whittaker, Ben Waine and substitute Ryan Hardie all produced good chances for Argyle while Mickel Miller in particular impressed for the whole game.
Foster neatly summed up the situation in his post-match interview, saying: “Leeds and us have got two different objectives this season.” He might have added, “and we live in a different financial universe to them”.
Next up for Argyle is a home clash on Tuesday with a West Brom side currently lying fifth in the Championship. Their first meeting of the season in October, was a goalless draw in the Midlands. Most recently, the Baggies went down 2-0 to Southampton on Friday, the day the club announced that it had a new owner in the form of Florida-based businessman Shilen Patel.
Argyle: C Hazard, J Houghton (M Bundu 85), J Pleguezuelo, M Whittaker, M Miller (L Sousa 81), A Devine, L Gibson (B Galloway 81), A Randell, B Waine (R Hardie 60), A Phillips, M Sorinola (B Mumba 81). Subs (unused): C Burton, D Scarr, J Edwards, F Issaka.
Pictures by Colin Bradbury / Cornwall Sports Media
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