⚽️ Weekend round-up: Monday, May 6
All the key results from the Bank Holiday weekend action.
Hello and welcome to our final weekend round-up of the season. Thanks for your support along the way.
🟡 Southern League Division One South play-offs
Semi-finals - Wednesday:
⚽ Frome Town 3 (Ollis 2, Simpson) Mousehole 0
⚽ Cribbs 1 (Hodgson) Bristol Manor Farm 2 (Brain, Lucas)
Final - Monday:
⚽ Frome Town 3 (Simpson 2, Teale) Bristol Manor Farm 1 (Bament)
🔴 Western League Premier Division play-offs
Semi-finals - Tuesday:
⚽ Falmouth Town 3 (Brabyn, Massey, Wilson) Barnstaple Town 1 (Montague)
⚽ Bridgwater United 0 Clevedon Town 1 (Teall)
Final - Saturday:
⚽ Falmouth Town 2 (Massey, Barner) Clevedon Town 0
🔴 Western League Premier Division
Saturday:
⚽ Nailsea & Tickenham 4 (Collins 2, Vowles 2) St Blazey 2
⚽ Oldland Abbotonians 6 (Tooze 2, Kyte, Mills, Blake, Tucker) Millbrook 0
Monday:
⚽ Millbrook 0 Oldland Abbotonians 4
⚽ St Blazey 5 (Cloke, Newton, Russell, Bowker, Pearce) Welton Rovers 0
🔵 SWPL Premier West
Friday:
⚽ Holsworthy 1 Newquay 1
Saturday:
⚽ Holsworthy 1 Wendron United 1
⚽ Launceston 5 Mullion 1
⚽ St Dennis 0 Bodmin Town 1
Monday:
⚽ Holsworthy 0 Wadebridge Town 1
🟠 Women’s football results
⚽ South West Regional Women’s Football League Western Division
Saltash United 4 Sticker 1
⚽ Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 1
Bodmin 1 St Agnes 2
Penryn 0 RNAS Culdrose 4
Wadebridge Town 3 Bude Town 2
⚽ Cornwall Women’s Football League Division 2
Padstow United 6 FXSU 1
Redruth United 4 Wendron United 1
St Agnes 0 Biscovey 7
Troon 0 Callington Town 5
🟢 Championship
Saturday:
⚽ Plymouth Argyle 1 (Edwards) Hull City 0
💚 Tension, drama and joy at Home Park as a Joe Edwards goal keeps Argyle in the Championship
By Colin Bradbury
Last day drama at Home Park. It was always going to come down to this, wasn’t it?
With Birmingham City occupying the final relegation spot, trailing Argyle by one point, a win for the Pilgrims would guarantee another season of Championship football. Argyle’s significantly superior goal difference meant that even if they lost, a draw for Birmingham would almost certainly not be enough to rescue them. However a win for the Midlands side over Norwich would see them leap-frog the Greens to safety if the latter drew or lost.
There was no doubting the magnitude of the prize. Aside from the shattering disappointment of coming up as League One champions only to be relegated at the first time of asking, the financial ramifications of failing to beat the drop were vast.
Simple then – Argyle had to win. Coming off two defeats to lower-placed teams, this was not going to be easy, especially as Hull started the game with the chance of a play-off spot, giving them plenty to play for.
Argyle started the game on the front foot, and the crowd sensed that they were more than up for the fight. Pressing the visitors aggressively and effectively in their own half, the hosts had chances at the other end through Bundu, Whittaker and Hardie. Hull had their share of efforts as well, with Carvalho and Delap forcing fine saves from Cooper in the Argyle goal.
The Pilgrims suffered a significant blow after 37 minutes as Mustapha Bundu, who had been causing all sorts of problems for Hull down their right flank, was forced off with an injury. The Argyle man pounded the turf in frustration, leaving no doubt how much this game meant to the players.
Just three minutes later though, it was his replacement, Callum Wright who swung a lovely ball in from the left side towards the edge of the opposition six-yard box. The ball looked destined for the head of Hull left back Matty Jacob, but he reckoned without a charging Joe Edwards who entered from stage right to win the ball and fire a bullet header home past the helpless visiting ‘keeper. ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ indeed.
At the break, with Birmingham and Norwich goal-less, things were going the Pilgrim’s way. Just ten minutes into the second half though, news filtered through that Birmingham had gone a goal up, meaning that a Hull equaliser would see Argyle fall through the trap door. The tension inside Home Park was turned up to 11.
Despite the fact that the score line at West Brom meant that their play-off hopes were dead, Hull continued to strive for an equaliser. There were further chances at both ends, but as the clock ticked over to 90 minutes, Argyle’s slender lead held.
The ensuing five minutes of added time must have felt like the longest of Argyle fans’ lives. But then, finally, it was all over, and the roar of relief from a delirious Home Park crowd was surely audible from Bristol to Lands End.
Another season of football awaits in what is arguably, in terms of edge-of-the-seat excitement and unpredictability, the best league in the world. Just 14 weeks to go…
Argyle: M Cooper, B Mumba (B Galloway 83), D Scarr, J Edwards, R Hardie (B Waine 79), M Whittaker, M Bundu (C Wright 37), A Devine (A Forshaw 83), L Gibson, A Randell, A Phillips. Subs (unused) C Hazard, J Houghton, J Pleguezuelo, M Sorinola, F Issaka.
Pictures: Colin Bradbury / Cornwall Sports Media
