MOUSEHOLE 4-0 PENZANCE
SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE, DIVISION 1 WEST
GOOD FRIDAY 19TH APRIL 2019
AT TRUNGLE PARC
In front of their biggest crowd of the season, Mousehole dominated the sun-filled Good Friday ‘local derby’ from start to finish to gain revenge for their two away defeats in the Charity Cup and League at the hands of Penzance in December.
For the hosts – already guaranteed at least the runners-up spot in this season’s West Division – this was their 11th League win in a row, dating back to the beginning of the year, during which they have scored 49 goals while conceding just four.
By contrast, Penzance have had mixed fortunes in the second half of the season, winning only three times during this period, including 14 goals conceded in their last three games without scoring any.
The match went largely in line with the form book, with nothing to suggest a local derby upset. Penzance’s defensive game plan, set up to stifle Mousehole’s attacking instincts, worked well in the first half with a 0-0 interval scoreline, but there was no stopping the Seagulls after the break as they notched up four goals and could have had several more.
Mikey Flores in the Magpies goal was the visitors’ hero on numerous occasions, but his credentials as a ‘man of the match’ contender were abruptly ruined just three minutes from the end when he persisted in arguing with referee Nigel D’Arcy and inevitably picked up a second yellow card following an identical earlier offence.
And to compound Penzance’s thoroughly frustrating afternoon, left back Gary Matthews earned a straight red card two minutes later after inexplicably head-butting Amin Ahmed in the chest as the darting substitute winger came on to create more problems on the right-hand side.
Mousehole started the match with patient controlled football, Flores superbly tipping Gerens James’ header on to the crossbar after 7 minutes and his co-defenders blocking a succession of shots and crosses in determined fashion with ex-Seagull Frazer Cadman putting in a great shift in an attempt to stem the tide. Penzance’s first serious venture over the halfway line came in the final minute of the half, Adam Williams and Kayne Trevaskis both missing the target from distance.
Having held out successfully for the first 45 minutes, Penzance would have been planning to steal a goal on the break after the interval, but Gerens James scuppered that idea five minutes in, back-heeling the loose ball over the line from six yards after Flores had blocked Hamza Kaid’s shot following a twisting run from the left.
The goal led to Mousehole raising the tempo, winning the ball back quickly as Penzance tried in vain to get forward, and spreading passes all over the pitch. More goals looked likely, and in a scintillating nine minutes they added another three.
Flores came out to save from Amara Bakayoko in a one-on-one challenge on 68 minutes, and injured himself in the process. But Bakayoko was the provider for the second goal on 77, his short low cross from the byeline prodded home from close range by Hamza Kaid.
The defiant Magpies keeper then made two excellent saves in the 78th and 82nd minutes, firstly from Kaid and then a deflected Kieron Toland shot, but Toland had the last word from the ensuing corner as he swivelled on the ball at the far post to volley into the far corner for 3-0.
Amara Bakayoko completed the scoring in the 86th minute driving in an unstoppable shot from 15 yards that cannoned into the net off the underside of the crossbar.
From that moment, Penzance might have sought to see the game out without further incident, but finishing the game with nine men gave Mousehole more opportunities, with outfield player Dan Lord donning the goalkeeper’s gloves and making a couple of important saves to keep the score down.
Both sides will be meeting again next season in the newly formed Step 6 Peninsula League West, with Mousehole having the ambition to progress further and Penzance needing to re-build to do themselves justice at the higher level.
With two games remaining, Mousehole’s result keeps their title hopes mathematically alive, but leaders Liskeard Athletic need just one point from their last two fixtures to become champions – away at local rivals Dobwalls on Wednesday evening and away again on Saturday at sixth place Wendron United.
Mousehole have a short away trip on Saturday (3pm) to St Dennis, who will be looking for a win to finish fourth. They then finish the season at home against Porthleven, already confirmed in third place, on Wednesday week (1st May, 6.45pm kick off), with a big crowd expected to celebrate an exciting season of entertaining football.
Meanwhile, Penzance play their last game of the season on Saturday at Bere Alston United, who are second-bottom in their first season after promotion. This will be a re-run of the match abandoned at half time earlier in the season after a downpour had left the pitch saturated. A win for the Magpies would move them up a place above St Blazey to 10th.
Mousehole: Jason Robertson, Tyler Tonkin, Billy Curtis (captain), Ben Williams, Paulo Sousa, Steve Burt, Kieron Toland, Lez Cela, Amara Bakayoko, Gerens James, Hamza Kaid
Substitutes: Callum George (for Lez Cela 79), Jerry Gyebi (for Ben Williams 87), Amin Ahmed (for Amara Bakayoko 87), Craig Wilcox, Tom Hands
Penzance: Mikey Flores, Reece Evans, Gary Matthews, Kevin Lawrence, Scott Grant, Gary Bell, Adam Williams, Frazer Cadman, Kayne Trevaskis, Dave Mitchell, Mawgan Kewn
Substitutes: Lewis Caspell (for Dave Mitchell 46), Dan Lord (for Adam Williams 59), Justin Searle, Justin Miles, Lee Denton
Scorers: Gerens James 51, Hamza Kaid 77, Kieron Toland 83, Amara Bakayoko 86
Referee: Nigel D’Arcy
Attendance: 238
