Mousehole 5-0 St Blazey

Pre-Season Friendly at Trungle Parc

Scorers: Callam Mconie (32), Hayden Turner (34), Tallan Mitchell (40), Tallan Mitchell (59), Sean Roberts (89)

Mousehole, recently promoted to the Western League, hosted their former South West Peninsula rivals in an entertaining encounter full of interest and endeavour, with 80 spectators at an immaculate Trungle Parc watching their first live football since last December.

Manager Jake Ash’s squad included mostly familiar faces, with two recent arrivals in winger Callam Mconie signed from Newquay and left-sided wing-back Kyle Fraser from Porthleven, together with Ethan Elwell goalkeeping understudy, but striker Mark Goldsworthy was absent through illness.

St Blazey, with a new management team under experienced manager Phil Lafferty and a re-shaped side containing some well-known names, are widely tipped to do well and challenge for the single promotion place available this season.

The game was uneventful for the first half hour, with plenty of tough tackling, but burst into life with three goals in eight minutes.

Mousehole took the lead when Callam Mconie swerved a left-footed free kick from 25 yards low inside the near post on 32 minutes, and then two minutes later Tallan Mitchell led a high press to present Hayden Turner with a goal from an angled shot for 2-0.  The same pair combined in a neat one-two on the edge of the box for Tallan Mitchell to side foot low into the far corner on 40 minutes.  At the other end Cory Harvey made a good low save from a 10-yard drive and Neil Slateford just missed the far angle for the visitors before the interval.

Just before the hour, Tallan Mitchell exploited the space 30 yards out to score his second goal with a low shot inside the post, but the visitors then came back into the game with some promising attacks and a couple of missed half-chances.  Right at the end, Sean Roberts marked his comeback after a lengthy injury lay-off when he completed the scoring with a header following a fine left-sided break engineered by Jamie Devine.

Mousehole starting line-up:  Cory Harvey, Billy Curtis, Mark Richards, Josh Otto, Kyle Fraser, Steve Burt, Tallan Mitchell, Andy Elcock, Callam Mconie, Hayden Turner, Josh Magin.

Substitutes used:  Sean Roberts, Jamie Devine, Ethan Elwell (GK), Jude Boyd, Charlie Willis, Silas Sullivan

Next up in the pre-season schedule is the visit to Trungle Parc of Jason Blunt’s i2i Academy on Friday evening (9^th July) with a 7pm kick off.

Mousehole have started their pre-season business with the signing of Kyle Fraser from Porthleven.

The 26-year old can operate as a left-sided defender or attacker, and adds versatility to manager Jake Ash’s squad as they prepare for their step up to a historic first-ever season in the Western League Premier.

The Helston-based youngster started his footballing education as a goal-scoring winger with Plymouth Argyle Academy. He later completed a mathematics degree at Quincy University, Illinois, USA, where his soccer skills won much acclaim and several honours. He’s currently putting his maths talents to good use as a trainee accountant.

Representing Cornwall at Under-18s level, Fraser drew this praise from Mousehole’s manager Jake Ash:

“He’s been on our radar for a while as another young, fit, hungry and ambitious player. I worked with Kyle in the West Cornwall District set-up and was always struck by his ability and attitude.

He has attracted lots of interest from other clubs but has always stayed loyal to Porthleven, and I like that. That said, when I spoke to him I was so impressed with his desire to be the best he can be and push on among our staff and players.

I should add a big thanks to Graham Blake at Porthleven – he didn’t want to lose Kyle but showed real class in allowing Kyle to train with us during April and May. “

Deryk Heywood, Mousehole’s Chairman, remembers Kyle Fraser well from his previous time as Chairman of Porthleven: “Kyle is a great competitor and has bags of natural enthusiasm, a perfect role model for The Seagulls. I’m confident he will step up to the challenge of playing at the higher level and give Jake great support”.

The Seagulls’ squad was boosted earlier in the year, with winger Callam Mconie switching from Newquay but not having the opportunity to make his debut because of the curtailment of the season. Top marksman Mark Goldsworthy had joined the club before Christmas but was able to play only two games for the same reason – with Jake Ash commenting: “Goldie still feels like a new signing, so I’m really pleased with the three we have already brought in as we look forward to next season. We are still targeting two more players to add to the existing squad, all of whom deserve their chance to play at the higher level”

In one of the most significant site improvements in their near-hundred year history, Mousehole AFC are to construct a new access road to their HQ at Trungle Parc.  It will replace the current route through Paul village and avoid the rough-surfaced driveway which has been in use since the 1960s.

The new 100-metre route will run directly to the club car park from the B3315 Penzance/Newlyn to Lands End road, just north of the hamlet of Sheffield.

The ambitious project, which has been granted full planning approval, will also involve an archaeological investigation of the access route, a significant tree-planting programme in collaboration with the Woodland Trust, and improved car parking at the ground. 

Drawn up in partnership with the adjacent landowner, the plans include the construction of an agricultural building for his forestry and traditional willow-weaving enterprise, with the access site being gifted in exchange for a club scarf.

A fundraising campaign will shortly be launched to help finance the road-building costs, and the club hopes to complete the work in time to celebrate their centenary year in 2022.

Mousehole’s chairman Deryk Heywood has spearheaded the commitment to the new road, with a massive number of hours of work and dozens of site meetings, in order to bring the project to reality.

The Chairman is rightly enthusiastic about what it means for Mousehole AFC:

“A new access road has been talked about for the last 20 years, but it’s taken the last two years of seriously relentless work to get it over the line.”

“This is the latest in a series of continuous developments to bring the club up to a higher standard for everyone – and it’s one of the most important.  It’s a momentous step forward, coinciding with the recent news of promotion to the Western League Premier for 2021/22, and the club’s forthcoming centenary in 2022.” 

“The new road will make Trungle Parc easier to find and quicker to reach, and it will certainly provide a smoother ride than our ‘famous’ pot-holed driveway – especially now we have a three-fold increase in attendances at our home matches.”

“People driving to the football or to the adjacent camping site will no longer need to take the route through Paul: this can only be of benefit to those who live in the village.”

“We’re delighted that the Council commended several advantages of the scheme – including the reduction in traffic on the narrow lane through Paul village past local residents’ houses, and the club’s support for a traditional rural craft next door to the football ground.”

“I must pay tribute to a number of people whose interest and generosity helped make it all happen:

• Paul Seaton, local landowner and partner in the project;
• Laurence Associates, our planning agent and main club sponsor;
• John Pearson, local resident and club supporter, with his expertise on highways; and
• Celtic Turf for their donation of hardcore for the road foundations.”

“I would urge everyone to look out for details of our fundraising campaign which we’ll be announcing shortly.”

Mousehole AFC, who yesterday received FA confirmation of their promotion to the Western League Premier for the 2021/22 season, wish to pay tribute publicly to the work of the SWPL, which they joined as founder members in 2007.

Mousehole’s Chairman Deryk Heywood is full of praise for the SWPL and Secretary Phil Hiscox:

“My personal knowledge of League Secretary Phil Hiscox goes back a long way. He worked really hard to set up the SWPL in the first place.  

Since then, he’s been a real figurehead.  Not just a football man, but also a person you can trust to be available to respond to queries, offer advice in a knowledgeable and authoritative manner, and deal with issues in an even-handed way.  

Phil is superbly efficient and considerate at organising fixtures –  an unenviable job particularly during our often erratic winter weather.

We at Mousehole are particularly appreciative of Phil’s guidance and support during these last few weeks, as our “will-we?/won’t-we?” promotion prospects hung in the balance.

We regard the upward movement of five clubs as a positive reflection of the SWPL, with the League acting as a springboard and helping to fulfil the true purpose of the football pyramid.

We leave with our sincere thanks and fond memories, and wish “all the best” to the League and all its member clubs.”

Phil will probably be glad to see the back of me, as I’ve been pestering him on all sorts of things for years!”

Cornish youngster Jude Boyd is set to leave Mousehole AFC after being awarded a football scholarship at San Jose University in California.

The Redruth-based 19-year old joined Mousehole in June 2020 after being released by Plymouth Argyle, and featured as an attacking winger in 15 of The Seagulls’ 16 first-team fixtures in the recently curtailed 2020/21 season.  

Speaking of his new opportunity, Boyd commented: 

“Although I’m obviously excited about America, I am really sad my time at Mousehole has come to an end.  I can’t thank the staff and club enough as I honestly couldn’t have had a better experience at any other club.  It has been amazing and I will be watching and supporting the boys from afar next season, and I know they are going to kick on again.”

Mousehole manager Jake Ash, who coached Jude Boyd for West Cornwall Schools under-14 and under-15 squads, was full of praise for the youngster:“He’s always had an abundance of natural skill, but he’s really developed his all-round game in senior football during his time with us.  He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and has fitted so well into our style and mentality as a group.  I am immensely fond of him, on and off the pitch, and I can’t wait to follow his journey in America.”

Mousehole have started early preparations for the 2021/22 season by capturing winger Callam Mconie from Newquay. 

The 23-year old is described as an exciting left-footer who was previously a team-mate of current Seagulls’ top scorer Hayden Turner, and the two were also fellow sports science students at Hartpury University. 

Mconie has also played at a higher level, having been on the books of Gloucestershire club Cinderford Town (Southern League, step 4) and Hereford club Westfields (Hellenic League, step 5). Mousehole’s Director of Football Adam Fletcher commented: “We’ve been tracking him for quite a while and every time we’ve seen him play he’s made a big impression and impact.  When he came on as a second-half substitute for Newquay in our win there last year he very nearly turned the game round for them.  He’s clearly a skilful, positive-thinking and forward-running player who will make a big contribution to our continuing progress.”