AFC St Austell v St Dennis:
The Mowdog’s Preview…
Finally, seven years on from my last visit to Poltair Park, I might actually get to see a match this coming weekend. My previous visit there in March 2015 is described below but the game against Bodmin Town didn’t go ahead because of adverse weather, a contest which had been hugely looked forward to because both teams were flying high in the league.
St Austell had won 17 of 20 matches, only losing twice, whilst their goal-difference was +44 and they had amassed 54 points (having been awarded 3 points when Bovey Tracey weren’t able to raise a team…) Bodmin were only 5 points ahead of St Austell in 2nd place, having won 18, drawn 5 and lost 3 of their 26 matches. Thus St Austell had 6 games in hand over their guests. Saltash led the league with 67 points from 27 matches, meaning that St Austell had 7 games in hand over them and sat in a very handy position…
This time, I hope my drive across Cornwall from The Merrymoor in Mawgan Porth will be more rewarding!
Currently, AFC St Austell lie 7th of 17 teams in the South West Peninsular League, Premier West Division with 7 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats from 13 matches. Their goals ratio is 19-24 and they have amassed 23 points, which leaves them 13 points behind league leaders St Blazey.
St Dennis are 16th in the standings at the moment, having won 3 and lost the other 11 of their 14 matches. Their goals ratio doesn’t make good reading: 19-53 and just 9 points have been gained this term. This means that they have conceded an average of 3.79 goals per league outing during the season so far…
AFC St Austell’s recent form…
A 0-6 home beating by Liskeard Athletic on 1st October was followed by a 6-1 defeat on the road to the same opponents in a cup-tie, during which Martin Duff netted for the Lillywhites. Next, a victory was secured away at Bodmin Town, by 1-2, where Cameron Bidgood and Kieron Bishop grabbed the goals.
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| CAMERON BIDGOOD: A GOAL AT BODMIN... |
Wendron United beat St Austell 2-0, before the lads went down 1-0 in a cup-tie at Teignmouth Town but things got better in the league next time out when the team won 1-2 at Penzance FC, where Tom Guest and replacement Chris Gilbey scored the important goals.
A 3-0 win v Godolphin Atlantic on 29th October was the team’s latest result, the goals being nabbed by Bishop, Guest and Neil Slateford but last week’s fixture at Newquay AFC was called off because of wet weather.
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| KIERON BISHOP: SCORED AT BODMIN & v GODOLPHIN... |
The overall leading scorer for St Austell is currently Guest with 8 goals…
St Dennis’ latest matches…
An 8-0 loss at Callington Town on October 8th was followed by a cup-tie at Cullompton Rangers, where a Jacob Rowe strike wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat.
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| JACOB ROWE: LEADING GOALSCORER... |
An exciting 4-5 home loss to Bude Town saw Rowe claim a hat-trick and Josh Pope score the other goal, before the lads secured a 2-3 win at bottom club Launceston Town, where Rowe this time netted a brace and the other strike was an own-goal..
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| JOSH POPE: NETTED v BUDE... |
Two defeats followed however, first 2-1 at Newquay AFC, where Tyler Trudgeon scored but Billy Coton received a red card, then last weekend the lads were humbled 0-4 at home by Bodmin Town.
Rowe has scored an impressive 11 goals overall, so far this season…
Video highlights with full commentary, screenshots, images and a match report will appear at themowdog.blogspot.com from Sunday 13th November…
So, back in time to March 2015, when I ventured across from Mawgan Porth to see the much anticipated AFC St Austell v Bodmin Town clash…
Did I Miss Anything?
AFC St Austell 0-0 Bodmin Town
(abandoned after a few moments because of dense fog…)
I drove across the peninsula towards Roche from the clear north coast on a Wednesday March evening but as I reached the village, mist had rolled in and by the time I arrived in St Austell, dense fog had dropped upon the south coast. I was turned away from the ground and told to park in the grounds of a nearby school, which I did and then walked back to Poltair Park to pay my entrance fee, once the referee had surprisingly decided that the game would go ahead…
I was chatting to Ollie Brokenshire from the host team at the time and the expressions on the players’ faces, including Liam Eddy’s displayed shock at the official’s rather blasé decision. I took my camera round the ground to snap some images of, er, fog…
It became obvious that a linesperson was not going to be able to see any player on the far side of the pitch and home goalie Jason Chapman was clearly concerned about throwing the ball out to a colleague who may, or may not have been there in the swirling mist. Chapman of course will likely be between the sticks v St Dennis this weekend…
I guess the visiting Town players would have benefited from a couple of hours preparation on Bodmin Moor for this important fixture, which might have had slightly better visibility than inside Poltair Park, in truth.
I chatted to St Austell player Dan Hart’s family then the players were apparently presented in front of the spooky grandstand on the far side of the pitch, although it was a case of shadowy hands shaking invisible hands…
The referee tossed his coin but I reckon he couldn’t find it again and incredibly the game started with St Austell mounting an attack and suddenly the main official called a halt to the proceedings…
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| THE TOSS... |
I couldn’t be arsed to queue for a refund, for I had a tricky journey back to Mawgan Porth to negotiate and thus I left Poltair Park disappointed…
Friendly folks had made the evening bearable enough but the officials had made a total fog-up of their jobs, especially as there was so much riding on the game. I guess they were paid, however…
Teams:
AFC St Austell:
Jason Chapman, Dan Lean (written as Lean Dan on the team sheet…), Martin Watts, Dan Hart, Lee Whitter, Martin Giles, Chris Reski, Ollie Brokenshaw, Liam Eddy, Dan Evans, Neil Slateford.
Subs:
Will Tinsley, Ben Williams, Dan Nancarrow, Jared Sims, Damon Mulready, Mike Body.
Bodmin Town:
Kevin Miller, Sam Hillson, Luke Rundle, Tom Chambers, Steve Simmonds, Craig Swiggs, Sam Matthews, Bobby Hopkinson, Adam Carter, Ryan Richards, Ben Joyce.
Subs:
Danny Brook, Huw Morgan, Dan Richardson, Darren Gilbert.
One of my images subsequently appeared in the Non-League Paper on the following Sunday but no credit was attributed to me, so I was forced to email them... The newspaper duly apologised and gave my blog a mention... How kind...
I wrote the following poem at the time…
Totally Fogged Off…
Fog clung damp and needy to St Austell,
Confusing, bemusing and infusing
Poltair Park with a wispy camouflage,
Where players stood, hardly enthusing…
The referee, who was maybe having a laugh,
Colluded (deluded) and concluded
That the match should go ahead,
Shocking those present, myself included…
Fans accuse linesmen of poor vision anyway,
Berating, castigating and deflating
Them, so with no sight of the opposite touchline here,
The fog would obviously not affect their rating…
The goalkeepers’ visibility was severely dulled,
Impaired, restricted and affected
So that shots from deep and deliveries of crosses
Would deceive them, rendering them dejected…
AFC St Austell, the Lillywhites, paled in white,
Faded, shaded and pervaded
The swirling mists, as Bodmin, beacons in yellow,
Could nearly be spotted, unaided…
After just over a minute, the game was abandoned;
Annoying, disillusioning and frustrating
Those who had been certain no game could be played
And were left to claim refunds by queuing…
Oddly, I had videoed the one piece of action
Watched, saved and uploaded
To my blog, yet somehow, ridiculously,
To a huge number of hits exploded…
Pete Ray
Poltair Park, March 2015 and an important league clash between FA Vase semi-finalists St Austell and local rivals Bodmin Town.
The referee erred big-time…
He would forever carry that evening with him.
But then again, maybe not, for he was a referee…
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| AWAITING THE KICK-OFF... |
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