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.
