In chapter two of playing with ten men, Mousehole scored four goals away from home but did not take home three points. Whilst it had been the Seagulls who were cut down in numbers against Exmouth, here again, it was the home team who had more work to do thanks to one of their number seeing red.
This match was preceded by thirty-six hours of constant rain but, surprisingly, the pitch was almost dry come kick off. The same could not said of the eyes of the visiting fans as they probably shed a tear or two at the loss of two more points courtesy of a late goal conceded.
The similarities of this match with the draw against Exmouth started when the teams lined up. The home side had at least four players over six foot three whilst, once more, Mousehole were without their captain; the granite fore-headed James Ward. In his stead, once more, was the rising star of the Mousehole defence, Jacob Kevern. His pace and calm on the ball had seen Mousehole win handsomely at Shaftesbury so there were few concerns at the skipper’s absence.
The next similarity with Tuesday night was Mousehole conceding the first goal as a result of not being able to defend a cross. In this instance it was, unusually from open play. A defensive mix up on the left gave the ball to the Didcot forward. He sent in a deep cross towards the far post where Max Cook was up against someone a foot taller. It was no surprise then that the forward got his header in. What was maybe a surprise was the accuracy of it, arrowed into top bins.
A goal down; no problem. A switch was clicked and in the space of four minutes Mousehole took the lead thanks to the sort of attacking play usually only seen in video games. The first goal came when Kaleb Kadimashi won the ball in the centre circle and played it to Hayden Turner, his first time pass sent Tallan Mitchell away down the left. He received in space but still had a lot to do as he galloped into the box. The defence backed off and that was all the encouragement he needed as he curled it in to the far corner.
Three minutes later Mousehole were in the lead. Kadimashi sent a long ball up to Liam Prynn. He took it down, shielded it and released and over-lapping Mitchell. The diminutive midfielder was calm personified. The defence didn’t know whether he would shoot, dribble or pass and as they tried to work it out he picked out Jack Symons on the edge of the six yard box. Simmo smacked it home.
Mousehole did not rest on their laurels and kept pushing for more. The lead was increased just after the half hour when Mitchell provided another chance. This time for Turner. Some lovely interplay between Kevern, Fresneda and Mitchell ended when the latter slid a pass through the whole Didcot defence in to the path of a sprinting Turner. He carried it to the edge of the box before passing it in to the net. They were making the game look very easy at this point and it should have been over five minutes later when Fresneda played in Simmo but on this occasion he rolled his attempt wide.
Ten minutes later, what could have been four one, was three two. Mitchell was dumped on the floor by a foul which the referee didn’t see. This move eventually led to a corner. With the Seagulls still complaining about the injustice of the not-given foul Didcot took advantage from the kick and scored another headed goal.
Undoubtedly this made the two half-time team talks totally different but whatever was said it appeared that the home side’s manager had got it more right when they levelled the scores just three minutes after the restart. It seemed straight away that the home manager had given his troops one instruction; lump it in to the box towards the big fellas. And it worked when Didcot had a corner. In it came, Mousehole couldn’t clear, three three.
Tuesday night was brought to mind again a few minutes later when the home side were reduced to ten men. Another ball was clumped towards the Mousehole box. It bounced head-high and Ed Harrison went to nod it away. Scarily for him and all the on-lookers, the Didcot forward decided to go for it with his boot in spite of it being six feet off the ground. He missed the ball and caught Harrison above the eyebrow. Whilst the forward had no malicious intent, it was reckless and dangerous and the referee ignored the home crowd and showed his red card. Harrison, bandaged, carried on briefly but had to leave the action a few minutes later.
Could Mousehole succeed against ten home men where they themselves had failed? Only four minutes after the dismissal it seemed that they might. Fresneda played Symons in on the edge of the box. He squirmed one way and then the other but couldn’t get a clear shot off. Turner was free on the left and Simmo found him in space near the corner of the eighteen-yard box. The Hitman found half a yard and shot into the top corner. Four away goals, all of which could be contenders for goal of the month but the important thing was, could they hold out? Surely there was no way back for the ten (not) diddy men? Sadly, from the point of the goal going in it was Groundhog Day as the home team, with ten men, pounded the visiting defence.
It was only a matter of time before the scores were levelled as the boys in navy blue seemed incapable of keeping possession. When it came, it came from the expected source. A cross, from the left, sailed across the box and found a Didcot man coming in totally unopposed to head it home.
The only question now left was; could Mousehole now hold on to a point. Every cross and corner was watched through the fingers of the tremendous travelling support but somehow they did it. It was, ultimately, a disappointing point, but a point on the road is never easily won. This was a game of contrasting styles which showed that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
