Senior Cup cracker at Mount Wise

Newquay 3 Bodmin Town 4 (after extra time)

Bodmin are through to the Cornwall Senior Cup semi-finals – but they were forced to dig incredibly deep to see off an excellent young Newquay side in a titanic quarter-final at Mount Wise.

The tie had everything – goals, glaring misses, fine saves, shots crashing against the woodwork, yellow cards and a red card for Newquay’s Liam Ames which left the home side to play 42 minutes with ten men.

Quite how Bodmin finished the game with ten men was something perhaps only referee Stuart Kane can explain. For most people in the ground, Sam Hillson’s trip which ended Jordan Annear’s run towards goal, only a minute before Ames’s dismissal, was a red card offence.

Mr Kane argued that Hillson was not the last man, with Steve Simmonds providing cover, but young Annear’s pace was taking him past Simmonds as Hillson struck.

At the time of these incidents, Newquay were 3-2 ahead and with all 11 on the field they just might have fancied their chances of holding on for a famous victory.

As it was, substitute Lewis Tasker equalised seven minutes from time and Adam Carter fired what turned out to be the winner ten minutes into the first period of extra time.

Newquay’s young team were dead on their feet – but they were deservedly applauded off the field at the end for a fantastic effort, having given one of the best teams in the county an almighty scare.

Bodmin were made to pay for a lacklustre start to the tie when Luke Weldhen fired the home side ahead in the 24th minute, collecting a pass with his back to goal and then whipping a fierce volley past Kevin Miller into the far corner of the net.

Andrew Neal, who saw a chipped effort cleared off the line in the 31st minute, equalised two minutes before half-time but Newquay almost regained the lead a minute later with Jordan Annear crashing a volley against the bar.

Bodmin had to improve in the second half and they did for a while, as a period of pressure culminated in Carter firing them into a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute after a through ball from Neal.

But if they thought it was going to be plain sailing from that point, they were wrong as two Newquay goals in two minutes sparked wild celebrations around Mount Wise.

Weldhen equalised in the 66th minute with a classy close range finish after young winger Louis Price had done brilliantly to force in a cross from the byline on the left.

And a minute later Jordan Annear, given too much space 25 yards out, decided to try his luck and the bobble as he hit his shot sent the ball spinning over Miller into the net to put the Peppermints 3-2 up.

The drama continued with Bodmin substitute Shane Krac smashing a brilliant shot against the post before the yellow-red card incidents which defined the outcome.

And as if we hadn’t seen enough incredible action, Neal, who has been scoring for fun for Bodmin this season, produced surely the miss of the season in the 82nd minute.

Collecting a pass inside the penalty area, he sidestepped goalkeeper Tom Vercoe on his left before steadying himself in front of an empty net. Only one outcome, surely . . .

But the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League’s leading goal scorer contrived to lift the ball high over the bar. Yes he did – I saw it with my own eyes.

Fortunately for Bodmin, it took only a minute longer for recent signing Tasker to equalise with a shot which squirmed under the body of Vercoe, so into an extra 30 minutes we went.

Clearly, ten-man Newquay were knackered. Somehow they picked themselves up to start extra time in some sort of order, but Bodmin moved in for the kill.

That it took ten minutes for Carter to force home the winner – albeit after an excellent initial save from Vercoe – said it all about Newquay’s fantastic spirit.

And when you see a team as good as Bodmin desperately trying to keep the ball in the corners in the dying minutes, you know you’ve done a good night’s work.

No reward for Newquay in terms of the result but a fantastic effort and an experience they should use to see them through the remainder of their league season.

For Bodmin, they will have to play better than this to beat Helston Athletic in the semi-final, back at Newquay next Tuesday, March 1st (7.30). But maybe they have just survived this season’s banana skin – by the skin of their teeth.

The other Senior Cup semi-final between holders AFC St Austell and runners-up Godolphin Atlantic takes place at Blaise Park, St Blazey, next Wednesday, March 2nd.

Bodmin: K Miller, S Hillson, L Bevan, T Chambers (L Tasker 52), S Simmonds, E Palmer, J Dingle (S Krac 62), R Allen, A Carter, A Neal, S Matthews. Sub not used: D Gilbert.

Goals: Neal (43), Carter (61 & 100), Tasker (83).

Yellow cards: Allen (36), Hillson (77).

Newquay: T Vercoe, A Ahearn (H Morgan 91), C Jamieson, J Mcardie, T Annear, H Pluses, J Bray-Evans, L Ames, L Weldhen, J Annear (S Middleton 106), L Price.

Goals: Weldhen (24 & 66), J Annear (67).

Yellow cards: Ames (36 & 78), Weldhen (45), T Annear (110).

Referee: Stuart Kane.

Marriott Man of the Match: River Allen – took the game by the scruff of the neck in the late stages and proved the difference.

Footnote: The programme for the game listed linesman Steve Nute as Darren Gilbert’s assistant manager. Now that I would like to see!

 

 

Cold and windy – but who cares? Midweek football is back

Cornwall Senior Cup quarter-final

St Austell 3 Penryn Athletic 1

There have been plenty of times down the years when I have complained about the bitterly cold weather I’ve had to sit or stand through to report on sport.

It was cold and increasingly windy at Poltair Park tonight but do you know what? It felt like heaven to be out there watching local football again on a winter’s evening.

I was actually singing to myself at one stage in the second half, such was the joy in my soul at being able to watch a match again after the unprecedented break in action because of one of the wettest Januarys I can recall.

Okay, so the match wasn’t the greatest spectacle. As St Austell manager Phil Lafferty said afterwards, the two teams and the match officials were entitled to appear rusty at times after such a long lay-off.

But it really didn’t matter. We had a football match to watch.

St Austell, winners of the Cornwall Senior Cup for the last two years, remain on course to complete their hat-trick after a hard-earned victory over division one west side Penryn, who gave a good account of themselves.

Harry Evans broke the deadlock in the 35th minute with a sweetly struck shot after great work by Liam Prynn along the right and although Luke Brabyn levelled for Penryn within three minutes with an excellent finish, the Lillywhites restored their lead before half-time.

There  is some dispute over who got the final touch to Martin Watts’ fierce left footed corner from the right. Olly Brokenshire ran away to celebrate, pointing to his knee to indicate that part of his anatomy had helped the ball over the line.

But Evans says the ball hit his head as it crossed the line, and his manager backs up his version of the story.

St Austell chairman James Hutchings took the issue to the club’s Dubious Goals Panel and they gave Evans the thumbs-up. So 2-1 to St Austell, two to Evans.

The second half was evenly matched and there was a short period when Penryn forced a number of successive corners at around the same time that central defender Lee Whetter seemed to fall out with some of his team-mates.

Fortunately, goalkeeper Jason Chapman verbally managed to knock some sense into the defenders in front of him and St Austell went on to clinch victory with a 77th minute strike from substitute Josh Grant from Watts’ excellent long ball.

Still, Penryn had their moments in the last ten minutes and although they went out of the competition, they did themselves proud.

Lafferty said: “There was lots of passion and endeavour from both sides to be in the hat come Monday.

“I was delighted with the result as I see Penryn as a good organised and fit unit, with a system that causes lots of threat and 68 goals so far in their division one west campaign.”

* It’s been a busy few days for the Lafferty household. Phil’s partner, Tamsin, gave birth to a son, Teddy Stan Victor, on Monday. Congratulations to all concerned.

 

 

 

 

Atlantic tide too strong as Ashes are washed away

Cornwall Senior Cup, quarter-final

Godolphin Atlantic 2 Saltash United 0

Sometimes, all the hard work in the world gets you nowhere in this life.

But on this occasion, Godolphin’s efforts in getting this Senior Cup tie played despite heavy overnight rain which wiped out most Cornish football fixtures, was rewarded with a hard-earned victory to clinch their place in the semi-finals for the second successive season.

Second half goals from Phil Lowry (62 minutes) and Ross Fallens (79, penalty) gave them the edge over a Saltash side who might have scored several goals themselves, yet had goalkeeper Simon May to thank for keeping the Atlantic tide at bay.

The poor conditions, rather than ruining the occasion, actually added to the drama of another miserable Cornish afternoon as players slipped and slid their way around the saturated Godolphin Way playing surface.

In the early stages of the game, Saltash looked the more likely to break the deadlock but strikers Chris Wright and Sam Hughes, who can normally be relied upon to take their chances, wasted opportunities in the opening ten minutes by firing shots over the bar.

But Godolphin found their (water) feet and it required a goal-line clearance from Chris Menhenick to deny Phil Lowry a 21st minute opener.

Somehow, the first half ended goalless, through a combination of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping, in awful conditions, by Shaun Semmens and May.

But May was finally beaten in the 62nd minute when, despite getting a hand to the effort, Phil Lowry’s stunning shot from 25 yards found the net.

Saltash poured forward in search of a quick equaliser but they were indebted again to goalkeeper May, who reacted brilliantly to keep out Alex Cole’s goal-bound effort.

The critical moment of the tie arrived 11 minutes from time as Saltash centre half Sam Leary was adjudged, rather harshly, to have shoved into Cole. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Fallens did the rest to make it 2-0.

May was called upon to make the last in his series of top drawer saves three minutes from time as he denied Cole before Wright just failed to get on the end of a cross which would have set up a tense finale.

But Godolphin were not to be denied. Their efforts on the field have impressed me for a long time but the hard work off the field is also worthy of mention.

They have managed to find a winning formula – the togetherness of the club is their strength and a lesson to other clubs trying to chase success.

Whether they are good enough to deny the likes of St Austell and Bodmin in this competition is yet to be seen – but no team left in the cup will want to be paired with The G in the semi-final.

Godolphin Atlantic: S Semmens, S Flannigan, T Shephard, A Dilley, O Pinnell, K Brown, P Lowry, R Fallens, K Trevaskis, A Cole, J Lowry. Subs: T Peacock, K Parker, B Mitchell, J Shephard.

Saltash Utd: S May, T King, C Menhenick, L Russell, S Leary, D Trott, R Maddison, S Farrant, S Hughes, C Wright, J Collier. Subs; G Pardew, P Chuwen, S Clews, J Donnellon.

Marriott Man of the Match: Simon May (Saltash).

Instead it just kept on raining

Well, we saw the back of Black January with its awful weather and what seemed like almost daily deaths of celebrities we loved.

So February had to be better, didn’t it?

Erm, the evidence suggests we’ve got a battle on our hands, if Storm Imogen is anything to go by. By the time we reach the end of this wretched winter, we will probably be through the alphabet of storm names.

Of course Cornwall bore the brunt of the latest monsoon, washing away not only the majority of another sporting weekend of fixtures but also trees as fields turned into rivers, and mini waterfalls cascaded onto the crumbling side roads of the county.

And the sporting misery continues. Bodmin Town’s only fixture this year, the FA Vase tie against Ipswich Wanderers, left the Priory Park playing surface damaged and with the amount of rain which fell over the weekend, there was never a chance that Tuesday’s Walter C Parson League Cup tie against Witheridge would be played.

The over-worked and under-paid secretary of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League, Phil Hiscox, accompanied news of that postponement with an understandably long and complicated explanation of when the game might be played, and the knock-on effects to other fixtures.

Quite simply, the Peninsula League season hasn’t progressed much since Boxing Day, six weeks ago. Leaders Bodmin haven’t played a league game since then, while reigning champions St Austell have been in premier division action only twice.

Their attempts to resume their league campaign also fell foul of the weather this week with their scheduled game at Plymouth Parkway a predictable casualty. So the misery goes on.

Throw in complications surrounding delayed cup competition fixtures, and it is a recipe for a very messy, and busy, end to the season.

Which is why we need February to cheer up – and fast! Unfortunately the weather forecast for this weekend is hardly encouraging, with more of the wet stuff set to hit Cornwall again.

St Austell hope to play their Cornwall Senior Cup quarter-final against Penryn Athletic on Saturday, with their Poltair Park pitch looking remarkably good yesterday, all things considered. But the surface is still very soft and any significant rainfall before the weekend won’t help.

Bodmin Town are also keeping everything crossed for getting their Senior Cup third round tie against division one west leaders Mousehole played on Saturday. Should it be played, the winners will be away to Newquay in the quarter-final, scheduled for next Tuesday, February 16.

If it’s not played, the knock-on effect will continue, and we’ll be three weeks into February.

Those who love their non-league football, and I count myself among them, are set for a feast of fixtures in March and April, that’s for sure.

Whether it devalues the chase for honours is another matter. Are we going to see the best of the Bodmins and St Austells of this world if they are having to play every three or four days? I doubt it.

But this is nobody’s fault. The one thing you can’t plan for is the sort of sustained wet weather we have experienced in 2016.

Whoever wins the league this season will have earned it.

And I will be calling them Raining Champions next season.