MOUSEHOLE 4-1 DOBWALLS
SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE, WEST DIVISION
SATURDAY 21ST OCTOBER 2017, AT TRUNGLE PARC
Only two West Division fixtures went ahead on Saturday – the other being on Plymouth Marjon’s artificial surface – and in Mousehole’s case the investment in a new drainage and pitch resurfacing scheme over the summer months paid immediate dividends in enabling the club to host its first home League game of the season after playing the first 9 matches away from home.
Despite the atrocious weather conditions, the match was never in doubt, with the new pitch easily coping with the heavy overnight rain and the torrential downpour that beset the second half.
The high wind blowing diagonally across the ground made accurate passing and ball control difficult, but Mousehole adapted much the better to the conditions and swept into a 3-0 lead just after the half-hour mark.
In the 10th minute, Tyler Tonkin’s long pass down the right-hand touchline put Luke Johnson in behind his marker, and the low cross was met by Caleb Marsden arriving on the far side of the six-yard box to side-foot home.
It was 2-0 after 25 minutes, as Matt McIlroy created the space on the edge of the box for a left-foot drive that squirmed under goalkeeper Jack Horsewell’s body.
Tyler Tonkin then scored the proverbial ‘scorcher’ in the 32nd minute when his rising drive from the right-side of the area arrowed into the far top corner.
Two minutes before half-time Dobwalls pulled a goal back against the run of play when Billy Curtis’ slip on the wet surface allowed Bentley Alacantra to run on and fire home.
The second half was a different story, with Dobwalls on the front foot in the hope of getting back in the game, but apart from two great saves from Steve Parker-Billinge in the opening and closing minutes – one a close-range block and the other a tip-over from a long-range shot – the weather was the winner, disrupting the pattern of play while at the same time testing the resilience of the players.
The alert Luke Johnson finally put paid to any prospect of a Dobwalls comeback in the last minute when he intercepted a pass deep in the visitors’ defence and slid the ball past the exposed Horsewell.
This was Mousehole’s fourth win in the last five matches, after two league wins away at Bude and Wadebridge followed by the home upset against Camelford in the League Cup, and Saturday’s three points lifts The Seagulls three places to 14th place, with 15 home and 7 away games to come.
The next two away League games are both on the far side of Plymouth, firstly at 15th-place Plymstock United this Saturday (28th) and then at 6th-place Elburton Villa on 18th November. There then follows an amazing sequence of 11 home League games stretching until 17th February, during which The Seagulls will be expecting to pick up the necessary points to climb the table after a challenging start to the season.
In the meantime, Mousehole’s next match at Trungle Parc is an intriguing local derby with high-flying Ludgvan in the first round of the Cornwall Charity Cup on Saturday 4th November, kick off 2.30pm.
Mousehole: Steve Parker-Billinge, Tyler Tonkin, Max Hill, Billy Curtis (captain), Liam Andrew, Kevin Lawrence, Connor Davey, Jordan Adlard, Luke Johnson, Matt McIlroy, Caleb Marsden. Substitutes: Byron Wood (for Tyler Tonkin, 53), Jake Andrew (for Matt McIlroy, 64), Danny Park (for Connor Davey, 71).
Scorers: Mousehole – Caleb Marsden (10), Matt McIlroy (25), Tyler Tonkin (32), Luke Johnson (90). Dobwalls – Bentley Alacantra (43)
Referee: Charlie Philpott
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