MOUSEHOLE 2-0 LUDGVAN

SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE, DIVISION 1 WEST

WEDNESDAY 18^TH APRIL 2018

AT TRUNGLE PARC

Mousehole gained swift revenge for their 1-0 defeat at Ludgvan on Saturday with a more-comfortable-than-expected 2-0 win over The Hurlers in the return fixture, and in so doing moved up to fourth place among a pack of eight teams all vying for the League title.

Both teams fielded changed sides from Saturday’s encounter and both had been in League action only 48 hours previously.  But whereas Ludgvan had suffered a 2-1 defeat at St Dennis on Monday evening, Mousehole were buoyed by a superb 5-2 victory at fellow challengers St Blazey on the same night.  And The Seagulls’ game plan worked to perfection in the circumstances, an attack-minded first half delivering two goals, and a second period of patient possession football causing the visitors to chase the game in vain.

In front of another 100+ crowd on a bright sunny evening, Ludgvan were forced on to the back foot from the first whistle, goalkeeper Mikey Davies making an alert diving save on 8 minutes and a couple of dangerous crosses from the right fizzing across goal. Ryan Holland fired over from 15 yards on the end of a penetrating move on 21 minutes, but Luke Johnson deservedly put Mousehole ahead a minute later with a fierce lofted drive into the roof of the net from the right hand side of the 18-yard line.

Captain Billy Curtis came up from the back to double Mousehole’s lead with a rare goal on 34 minutes, heading home Ryan Holland’s inswinging right-sided corner at the near post – his second goal of the season, the first being also against Ludgvan in the 3-2 League Cup tie win at Fairfield on 16^th September.

Flores made another good save from Luke Johnson’s shot in the 37^th minute and Jake Andrew was just over with a close-range chance from Paulo Sousa’s left-wing cross, but after showing very little attacking threat Ludgvan sprung into life in the last few minutes of the half.  Wade Brown’s goalbound header from Dan Magee’s cross was kept out at full stretch by Steve Parker-Billinge in the home goal, Max Davies headed wide from the resulting corner, and Ross Duncan got on the end of another Magee free-kick but headed the ball the wrong way with Steve Parker-Billinge in no man’s land.

The expected Ludgvan blitz on the Mousehole goal failed to materialise in the second period, their only sight of goal coming when Wade Brown hooked over a difficult half chance from a corner.  The hosts were content to conserve energy by stroking the ball around the whole of the pitch, but still managed to create a good chance near the end when Paulo Sousa worked his way through but Flores’ block prevented a third goal.

Mousehole have five League fixtures remaining, of which four are at home.  They face bottom side Bude Town on Saturday (21^st) at Trungle Parc with a 3pm kick off,  before a potentially decisive fixture at home a week later against rivals Millbrook, who so far this season have dropped the fewest League points and are the title favourites – on paper, at least.

During that same period Ludgvan have five fixtures to complete as they play ‘catch-up’ after earlier postponements, with home games on Saturday (Plymouth Marjon), Sunday (Dobwalls) and Tuesday (Penzance), followed by away games on Thursday (Elburton Villa) and Saturday (Liskeard Athletic).

Mousehole:  Steve Parker-Billinge, Billy Curtis (captain), Calum Elliot, Liam Andrew, Josh Otto, Kevin Lawrence, Ryan Holland, William Vouama, Paulo Sousa, Luke Johnson, Jake Andrew.  Substitutes:  Steven Ziboth (for Ryan Holland, 61), Jamie Thomson (for Calum Elliot, 71), Tyler Tonkin, Paul Williams

Scorers:  Luke Johnson (22), Billy Curtis (34).

Referee:  Derek Hughes.     Attendance: 116

ST BLAZEY 2-5 MOUSEHOLE

SOUTH WEST PENINSUAL LEAGUE, DIVISION 1 WEST

MONDAY 16^TH APRIL, AT BLAISE PARK

An eventful first match in charge for newly-appointed player-manager Calum Elliot saw Mousehole return to winning ways in the first encounter with St Blazey after their relegation from the Premier Division last season.

With both teams neck-and-neck in the top-six on 43 points. the hosts took the lead with a 45-yard goal, had a man sent off and then doubled their lead, before The Seagulls fought back from  2-0 down, putting in a dominant second-half display which included four headed goals and another hat-trick by top scorer Jake Andrew.

On a very bumpy pitch – which is also the venue for Mousehole’s first-ever appearance in the Cornwall Senior Cup Final on Sunday 13^th May against Premier Division Saltash United – St Blazey took an early lead in improbable fashion when Lewis Coombes hoofed a wind-assisted lob from fully 45 yards after Mousehole had lost possession in the centre circle.

The fierce tackling showed how important a win was for both sides in the title race, but left-back Elliot Rendle did his side no favours as he earned an obvious straight-red card with a reckless high tackle on Luke Johnson half-way through the half, leaving St Blazey to play 70 minutes with ten men.

The pendulum swung the other way a couple of minutes later, when Liam Andrew was carried off with a knee injury after another crunching clash, to be substituted by Steven Ziboth.  And before Mousehole had time to re-organise, player-manager Stuart Morgan put his side 2-0 up on 31 minutes with a straight run through the defence and a cool chip as Steve Parker-Billinge raced out.

William Vouama gave Mousehole some hope on 38 minutes when he picked up a defensive clearance from Paulo Sousa’s corner and drove in a knee-high shot from a central position 30 yards out which swerved late to deceive goalkeeper Toby Chapman.

With their one-man advantage, The Seagulls took control of the second half, with fluent possession across the width of the pitch gradually wearing down their opponents.  It was 2-2 in the 51^st minute as Ryan Holland’s long diagonal ball beyond the far post was headed back across goal by Steven Ziboth for Jake Andrew to nod home.

And Andrew put Mousehole into the lead for the first time with another header from the edge of the six yard box, Ziboth again the provider with an accurate cross from the left after 71 minutes.

Steven Ziboth made it 4-2 with a goal of his own in the 86^th minute, this time getting a firm downward header from an angle on Paulo Sousa’s right-wing corner, with the ball squeezing in at the near post off Chapman’s legs.

And a remarkable turnaround was completed one minute from time as Jake Andrew, on his knees in front of goal, headed in a loose ball for his third close-range hat-trick in recent games.

The three points gives Mousehole fresh hope of competing positively in the promotion-seeking pack after last Saturday’s disappointing result and below-par performance at local rivals Ludgvan.  The Seagulls have the opportunity to erase that memory when the return League fixture with Ludgvan takes place at Trungle Parc tomorrow (Wednesday 18^th April), kick off 6.30pm.

With Ludgvan losing 2-1 at St Dennis yesterday evening, Liskeard drawing at home and Millbrook v Elburton also finishing all-square, Mousehole’s win keeps them in contention near the top with six games to go and five of those at home, the last one of which is the return fixture with St Blazey.  There still remain a total of ten games in which teams at the top will face each other and therefore drop points, and although some teams have games in hand they also have greater fixture congestion.

Mousehole at St Blazey:  Steve Parker-Billinge, Billy Curtis (captain), Liam Andrew, Calum Elliot, Chris Prout, Jamie Thomson, Paulo Sousa, William Vouama, Ryan Holland, Luke Johnson, Jake Andrew.   

Substitutes:  Steven Ziboth (for Liam Andrew, 24), Josh Storey, Paul Williams.

Scorers:

St Blazey – Lewis Coombes, 6 (1-0);  Stuart Morgan, 31  (2-0).     

Mousehole – William Vouama, 38 (2-1);  Jake Andrew, 51 (2-2), 71 (2-3), 89 (2-5), Steven Ziboth (86, 2-4)

Referee: Tony Rogers.     Attendance: 70.

LANNER 2-6 MOUSEHOLE RESERVES

TRELAWNY LEAGUE DIVISION 1

SATURDAY 14^TH APRIL, AT TRESEVEAN PLYING FIELD

 Mousehole Reserves celebrated achieving the first objective of their season – a win that assures them of promotion.  It’s an immediate return to the Premier Division from which they were unluckily relegated after a second half of last season was disrupted by Reserves having to fill First team shortages caused by a mass exodus of players.  They now require a maximum of three wins from their last four games to clinch the title.

Saturday’s win came on an overcast warm afternoon with a brisk breeze.  On an extremely soft pitch, the opening 15 minutes saw both sides trying to find openings in each other’s defence, but it was The Seagulls who managed to score first when Jamie Simons’ shinpad deflected a shot that was probably going just wide from J J Simmonds.  A second goal followed shortly afterwards when the ball trickled into the back of the net from a Lanner defender.  Some excellent defending from the back four, together with a hard-working midfield, succeeded in keeping the home attack at bay.  But Lanner continued to pressure and came extremely close to scoring their first, when a dipping and swerving free kick was superbly edged over the crossbar by keeper Jonathan Fitchett playing only his second game for Mousehole.  Good work throughout the first half from Chris Bullock in the centre and Jamie Simons down the left wing started to open up the Lanner defence, but without adding to the half-time score of 0-2.

Mousehole’s third and fourth goals came in quick succession following good teamwork across the pitch, with J J Simmonds and Jamie Simons doing the damage, both from inside the Lanner penalty box.  The hosts then broke through the Mousehole defence and deservedly scored their first of the afternoon, while shortly afterwards  Jonathan Fitchett in goal had to make another good save to prevent Lanner getting a second.  With 30 minutes left Mousehole made a series of rolling substitutions, and it was not long before captain Joe Davies found the back of the Lanner net with goal number 5 with a fine shot from just outside the penalty box.  Michael Fitchett came close to scoring number 6 from a one-to-one with the Lanner keeper who managed a finger- tip save, but shortly afterwards he delivered a fine cross into the box for Lee Robinson to hit goal number 6.   Mousehole continued to attack without being able to capitalise on their efforts, while Lanner continued to play positively and gained a penalty which they converted for their second goal.

The three points ensures promotion to the Trelawny League Premier Division at the first attempt, in an excellent season in which The Seagulls have lost only one League game – but there is still work to do in the remaining four fixtures to fulfil the second objective, which is to be promoted as champions.

Those four fixtures are all away:  This Saturday, 21^st, at Rosudgeon (2.30pm);  Monday 23^rd at Threemilestone (6.30pm);  Wednesday 25^th at RNAS Culdrose (6.30pm);  and finally Saturday 28^th at Hayle (2.30pm).

Penwith Exiles are the only other team that can challenge for the top spot:  they are 8 points behind with five fixtures remaining, four of which are away, so any points dropped will make The Seagulls’ task easier.

Mousehole Reserves v Lanner:  Jonathan Fitchett, Joe Davies (captain), Tom McGarry, Harry Tonkin, Jason Simmonds, Michael Fitchett, Chris Bullock, Jamie Simons, Matthew Howes, Tom Hooper, Nathan Goodspeed, Caleb Marsden, Lee Robinson, Josh Storey, Louis Main.

The total crowd number for this season’s three matches between Mousehole and Penzance is 682:

• 216 at Penzance v Mousehole League match on Good Friday
• 279 at Mousehole v Penzance League match on Boxing Day
• 187 at Mousehole v Penzance Charity Cup quarter final tie on 10^th February

The average is 227.

Mousehole’s average home attendance for League matches this season is 98.

The highest was the 279 on Boxing Day v Penzance, the lowest 55 against Illogan in horrible weather on 11^th November.

Two other matches attracted 100+,  Holsworthy (106) and Wadebridge (105).

Mousehole’s 98 is the 3^rd highest average home attendance in the Division:  top are Holsworthy (110) with six 100+ gates, second are Penzance (104).

Mousehole’s average of 98 is more than 50% higher than the Division’s average-per-game of 61.

Eight Premier Division sides have lower average home attendances than Mousehole.