Mousehole (C)Leave Empty Handed.

This game swung on a decision by the officials when the score was one all. It was a sliding doors moment and could affect both teams’ seasons.

A fairly even match had seen Mousehole take the lead in the first half, slightly against the run of play. An error by the home keeper, when a misplaced pass went straight to Torin Ntege, was quickly punished by the young forward as he slammed it back into the net.

One nil up at half time was flattering to the visitors and the home side came out desperate to make amends. Their onslaught lasted twenty five minutes before they finally broke through although Mousehole will be disappointed with how it came. A floated free kick from the right found the head of Cleeve’s centre half and with little resistance he slammed it past Chenoweth.

From there it was a ding dong battle With both sides making chances.

And then it happened. The doors slid.

The ball fell into Ollie challinor’s path on the edge of the box, he controlled it and guided it in to the far inside netting. It went in, bounced out off the wheel stanchion and ran away. The crowd waited for the referee to signal a goal. Both benches waited too, they both saw it go in. They’re still waiting because the referee and his assistants “didn’t see it” go in.

Play went on, sort of, as the Mousehole players hollered their disbelief to no avail. This shock led inevitably to a home goal as the Bishops cleaved an opening. A ball across goal from the right again found a player in space, alone, in splendid isolation. At six foot five it’s amazing no one saw him and thought to mark him and he gratefully plonked the cross home.

And that was how it ended. Another lead dropped, another decision going against the seagulls, another long coach journey home licking wounds.

Between their starting XI Yate had over 1250 matches at Step 2 and above! Including over 150 in the professional divisions. They had won all 8 of their home matches this season by an aggregate score of 13-1.

Thus, with a little trepidation, the seagulls arrived on a dry but bitterly cold night. Our fans turned up in good numbers to swell a near 400 crowd and they were not to be disappointed with the display. Adopting a more defensive approach that is the norm, Mousehole were airtight at the back but allowed themselves to be free-flowing going forward. They had the better chances early on and took the lead when Hayden Turner fizzed in a cross that Joseph Guest flicked over his own keeper. More a good host than a good guest! The one frustration of the night was that the lead disappeared so quickly. A flashing move down the left caught Mousehole cold and Marlon Jackson smashed it home. 30 minutes gone, honours even and it stayed that way till the half. Neither side really creating much.

The second half was a tale of attack, Yate’s, versus defence, Mousehole’s. Whilst the Bluebells rang on the door a number of times they found no way past a very solid defence held together by player of the match Ollie Chenoweth. On the only occasion he was beaten Medo Konte was on the line to repel the ball. A valiant point nearly became a fabulous three when Mousehole broke away near the end. He won’t like the tag, but Saturday’s Super Sub Ross Derham found space in the Yate box as the seconds ticked away. The ball reached him. He opened up his body to find the angle but pushed the ball just wide. Not many teams will get points at top of the table Yate this season and so this was definitely a good one.

We’re away again on Saturday playing on the plastic at Bishop’s Cleeve. We’re on a mini-roll at the moment, here’s to keeping it moving.

An even first half ended nil all with BMF squandering the best chances.

They missed a few more openings before Mousehole’s class showed.

The turning point was the arrival of Ross Derham. He assisted Tim Nixon for the first, then scored the second. Then, for good luck, set up Max Hill for the coup de grace.

The game ended badly when the BMF skipper was red-carded for a nasty challenge. But it’s back to winning ways in the league.

They talk about banana skins when it comes to cup ties and this was definitely a potential one.

For a good 25 mins we huffed and puffed to little effect, then a bit of Barrett magic sent Torin through and he beat the keeper with aplomb.

Half-time one up but Blazey were starting to look tired.

In the end Mousehole’s class and superior fitness told but no one, except maybe Ollie Chenoweth, would begrudge the Saints their consolation goal.

We’re in it to win it so bring on the quarters.

Two penalties? No. Just one.

A night that started promisingly ended with rancour and disappointment.

Tallan Mitchell’s early goal after just two minutes was a false dawn. Despite dominating possession, Mousehole could not increase their lead and a defensive error gifted Tavistock the equaliser.

Having been denied a certain penalty, the Seagulls went into halftime feeling hard done by. To their cost, they seemed to carry this feeling into the second half, as Tavistock always looked the more dangerous.

When the visitors scored from a contentious penalty award there was a feeling that the evening would not end well.

In spite of more penalty box entries than in any match this season Mousehole could not break through a solid defence and failed to have a meaningful shot on target.

Another home defeat, another disappointing evening, but we’re still early in the season and Saturday’s trip to Cinderford is a quick chance to turn things back to the positive.

Mousehole 3-2 Bemerton Heath Harlequins

The day before the clocks went back the sun was out, the wind was low and it felt like mid-summer. It was more cricket weather than football but here we were at Trungle Parc ahead of Mousehole’s match against Bemerton Heath.

Having not won since the first day of the month this felt like the Seagull’s first must-win match of the season. As we head into winter, points were needed on the board so when Ollie Challinor notched his first goal for the green hoops after just eleven minutes things looked good.

Whilst the possession stats were even in the first forty five it was the home side that looked the more dangerous. The vibrant attacking display away at Exmouth was repeated as chances were created, mainly due to great work down the left by Jordan Hackett and Challinor. Tim Nixon and Hayden Turner both had good chances to increase the lead before the break but these were spurned.

At the other end, the other Ollie, Chenoweth, had to make a couple of good saves to maintain the lead before the break. Half time came and as the minutes passed in the second half it would be no surprise if home thoughts did not lurk back to Exmouth’s late equaliser. Home chances were fewer and Bemerton were pushing harder and getting closer whenever they broke through.

It was with great relief then that the lead was doubled thanks to a solo effort from Torin ‘The Tornado’ Ntege. Picking the ball up just inside the opposition half he carried it left and dribbled it right, avoiding tackles and ignoring passing opportunities. Just at the point where it looked like he may have beaten one man too many without any reward he burst into the box and drove the ball hard and low to the keeper’s right. A gloved hand reached the ball but the strike was too strong, the lead was doubled and nerves were un-jaggled.

Two nil is a tricky lead but three nil is a game ender. When Hitman Turner was played through by Ntege there was only ever one outcome. With ice in his veins he pushed the ball wide of the keeper and cut it back into the net. And that was that.

Actually, it wasn’t. These seagulls like to entertain but sometimes it can leave a queue at the portable defibrillator. When the visitors got one back with a minute of normal time to play it seemed like a consolation but when the ball was bundled over the line again a full nine minutes into time added on it felt like two points were about to be dropped. The crowd were screaming for the whistle and there was relief all round when it came. Three goals, three points and three days to go before Tavistock visit. Get ready!

Evesham 1-0 Mousehole

It’s two hundred and thirty nine miles from Penzance to Evesham’s ground which lies not far south of Birmingham. Departing before eight in the morning allowed the travelling seagulls plenty of time to consider having lost their last two games whilst conceding six goals. We pride ourselves on our attacking football this has to be built on solid defensive foundations and this was at the forefront of everybody’s thoughts as the coach set off.

If a journey can be a metaphor for life, then it was a bad omen when the coach driver informed the travelling group that the alternator was about to catch fire. Fortunately, we hadn’t yet passed Truro so we were able to divert to the garage and swap out of our luxury coach with its hot-tubs, mini bars and surround sound cinema. The new vehicle was a double decker. After a quick check was made to make sure Cliff Richard was not on board; we loaded up and set off for a second time.

In spite of the coach problems, we arrived in good time for the match so pre-game preparations were not adversely affected.

A first half which saw only one shot on target between the two sides said much about the entertainment value of the match. That shot was ours. Whilst Evesham had better chances only one was clear cut. They could maybe feel hard done by to go in at nil nil but their finishing was poor and the score probably about right.

The second half played out very much the same way. The defences of both sides were on top and there were very few shots on goal. Evesham had the best chance mid way through the half when a goal mouth melee saw the ball bobbing about like a toffee apple in a bucket but no one could apply the finishing touch and the scores stayed level.

As time ticked down it looked like Mousehole would make the long journey home on the double decker with a point in their pocket but sadly, like the alternator on the first coach, our defence could not hold out. We lost a block tackle about twenty yards out, the ball was slipped wide to Levi Steele who had stolen a yard. From wide in the six-yard box he chipped a cross in for Alfie Dunn to score with a diving header.

It would be fun to discuss how rare diving headers are these days but losing the match in the eighty-eighth minute precludes such revelry. The green hoops had battled so hard to keep the clean sheet it felt like a crushing blow especially as there was hardly any time for Mousehole to hit back. They actually did force a couple of chances but the final whistle came too soon and signalled another point-less afternoon.

Encouragement could be had from the solid defensive display but the defeat saw Mousehole drop out of the play off places for the first time this season.

Unbelievable

EMF released ‘Unbelievable’ in 1990 and 34 years later BMF departed Trungle Parc with a barely believable ticket to the next round of the FA Trophy.

Having not lost at home for over ten games Mousehole entered this game in confident mood but the weather had other ideas. With winds threatening to reach sixty miles an hour the prospects for quality football seemed low. Mousehole’s normal passing style was difficult to maintain in the conditions and was well disrupted by a robust Bristol Manor Farm defence and midfield. It was little surprise that the visitors ended the first half with four bookings. What was unexpected, unbelievable even, was that with only 32% of the ball the men in blue went in 1-0 up. They scored near the break thanks to great work by Rhys Thomas who wriggled free on the left of the box and finished smartly.

Mousehole started the second half slowly, in shock maybe at being behind. All the action took place at the home end with the visitors dominating possession and the green and whites unable to hold on to the ball. This time it was no surprise when the Farm doubled their lead. A poor clearance was quickly moved forward and three passes later it found Louis Britton who had space and time to roll it into an empty net.

From then on Mousehole battled hard but couldn’t find a gap in the Bristol defence. It wasn’t until the eightieth minute that they finally had a shot, a looping clip from Max Hill that the wind took over the bar, and the stand. One more chance came and went. That they only mustered a couple of wayward shots in the second half meant that they never looked like reducing the deficit. This cup run has been a roller coaster but the wheels came off here and the journey ended with heads bowed. It’s rare that no man of the match is announced at Trungle because normally there are four or five contenders but no one could argue that there was a deserved recipient of the bubbly from this match.

The wind blew, the rain fell and Bristol Manor Farm deservedly progressed into the First Round Proper. As for Mousehole, with five wins out of six so far in the league, they are free, as the saying goes, to concentrate on the league. It’s been a fabulous start to the season with a strongly assembled squad so this blip should not take too long to get over.