Dunbar Finally Breaches Falmouth Defences…
Bishops Cleeve 1-0 Falmouth Town
The Mowdog’s thoughts…
This interesting encounter, ravaged by untidy periods but also interrupted by some neat passing movements, lacked real excitement and much goalmouth action. When shots were released however, the Falmouth drum seemed to be beaten with more relish, the visiting supporters bellowed vocal support for their team and their dog barked. Only three times did Town threaten their hosts however, but those moments came late in the game and the Mitres might easily have rued the chances they had scorned earlier in the contest.
Subsequently though, one goal divided the teams and on reflection, Cleeve were worth their victory, despite Falmouth’s sturdy defending throughout and a second period revival, following the introduction of replacements Oscar Massey, Jack Webber and Andy Elcock, who were apparently all carrying slight knocks.
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| TOWN'S JONES LEAPS BUT AN OFFSIDE FLAG WAS WAVING... |
The bright sunlight and late October warmth at Kayte Lane made for a pleasant afternoon of soccer watching, whilst new Cleeve signing Harry Burns performed strongly on his debut, really featuring well in a competitive atmosphere.
The goal chances, which were few but memorable…
Two early angled lobs by home skipper Ross Langworthy proved awkward for Town goalie Morgan Coxhead, as the first clipped the upper reaches of the far stick and the second drifted off target. Speedy and lively home forward Dunbar drove too high from downtown and then, after Coxhead was unable to gather a left-flank centre, the striker saw his low drive superbly blocked by the sliding Andreas Calleja-Stayne, with the recovered Coxhead behind him for good measure.
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| LANGWORTHY'S LOB CLIPS THE RIGHT ANGLE... |
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| THIS CROSS WOULD FALL AT THE FEET OF DUNBAR (9)... |
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| ...BUT THE STRIKER'S SHOT IS BLOCKED... |
Matt Bower headed over the target, whilst Coxhead saved low drives at his left, near post from both Dunbar and Burns but during that opening 45 Town simply couldn’t bring home gloveman Lewis Clayton into any meaningful action at all. True, Luke Brabyn made a few rushes on the right side but frustrated central striker Rubin Wilson was offered little scope and was bundled about by home defender Matt Liddiard who played with controlled authority throughout.
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| BOWER HEADS TOO HIGH... |
The Mitres were often urged forward by midfielder Ben McLean but after the break, there seemed to be a more offensive attitude in the Falmouth play, despite a few melees in their own penalty-box.
Burns clipped an effort from 18 yards just too high but the visitors responded with a couple of opportunities of their own. First central defender Harrison Jewell nodded too high at the far post from a set-piece, then Massey drove low from 18 yards, an effort which was smartly turned away for a corner by Clayton, dropping right.
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| BURNS CLIPS AN EFFORT OVER THE TARGET... |
After going a goal behind on 78 minutes, the guests so nearly snatched a point, when Brabyn slipped Massey through at inside-right, only for the striker’s low angled shot to roll narrowly wide of the far upright…
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| BRABYN FEEDS MASSEY... |
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| ...WHO BEATS CLAYTON... |
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| ...BUT HIS LOW SHOT GOES WIDE... |
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| CLAYTON SAVES A LOW DRIVE FROM MASSEY... |
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| JEWELL HEADS TOO HIGH... |
The winning goal…
The deciding strike came following a period of sustained attacking by the hosts, largely involving substitute Isaac Pearce who injected the encounter with quickness, neat passing and ideas.
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| PEARCE: A TYPICAL RUN... |
Pearce wasn’t picked up by the Town cover on a number of occasions and he was afforded quite some space to create. He picked out a clever pass for the overlapping Bower to shove across the goalmouth and force a desperate clearance from Town skipper Tom Annear who then blocked Pearce’s low shot from the second phase of attack.
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| BOWER CROSSES LOW... |
However, the ball rebounded to Pearce, who made a nifty rush to the left byeline, drawing both Annear and Jewel towards him which allowed Dunbar to sneak in at the near post and nudge the ball past the helpless Coxhead…
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| PEARCE'S LOW DELIVERY... |
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| ...& DUNBAR'S WINNING GOAL... |
The final words…
Mitre Will Emery was strong and effective on the right-flank, basically as a wingback, whilst midfielder Aaron Evans-Harriott was nippy, elusive and industrious throughout. McLean play-made well enough, although maybe Langworthy and Dunbar would have hoped for more consistent service from their colleagues.
Both Joe Turley and Will Turner contributed well for Cleeve and all of the replacements used played their parts.
Both Town full-backs, Fred Walter and particularly Brad Leivers were productive for the visitors, defending astutely, making offensive runs and with Leivers in particular winning several important headers in his own penalty-area.
Certainly Massey improved matters for the Cornish team but with Jared Sims and Calleja-Stayne forced to deal with the efforts of the home midfielders, their creative opportunities were limited.
Cleeve deserved their victory but Falmouth’s efforts were admirable on the day…
