A crisp boxing day welcomed a match between two fierce local rivals which attracted a bumper crowd of seven hundred and forty two! Sadly the entertainment on the pitch failed to live up to the festive mood on the terraces but either side could have won a tight contest.
Nil nil draws are as rare as hens’ teeth and yet this was Mousehole’s second in just foiur games. So maybe for the boys in white and green goalless draws and really like London buses. If nil-alls drawers are really as rare as hens teeth then clear-cut chances in this match was rare as hens’ toothbrushes.
The best early chance fell to Hayden Turner after he had been pole-axed by the first of many robust Falmouth challenges. Maybe it was the weather and the softer ground but the visitors seemed intent on putting some stiffeners from the start. Turner jumped back up, brushed himself off and headed for the posse of players now crowding the edge of the box. Ed Harrison lined up to float a cross to the back post but here was a training ground free kick par-excellence. As the Falmout defenders were on their heels looking for the main threat, namely ex-Mouthian James Ward, Harrison played a ball into the inside right channel seemingly to no one. Turner emerged from the pack as the ball entered the box. He caught up with the ball, swivelled and smashed it just wide. The move deserved a goal for the deception alone.
After thirteen minutes Mousehole were nearly undone by a straight ball over the top. This could well be the epitaph of this season. The Falmouth number seven split the centre halves, spun in the area and found a team-mate. Had he possessed an ounce of composure it would have been a goal but he snatched at the chance and the ball flew over the bar and in to the car park. This was the first to end so high of the mark but not the last. So many of the Falmouth efforts ended in the car park that some wag in the crowd suggested that Prince William may have put a goal in there.
The best chance of the half, nay the match, fell to Jack Symons near the half hour. A long throw from the right by Harris was flicked on by Nixon and found Simmo haring on to it. He took one touch and then with the goal gaping could only hit it straight at the advancing keeper.
Falmouth’s best effort came not long after, and for once the car park was safe. A reasonable move saw the ball shifted across the box until it reached the left edge. The diminutive Falmouth player struck it hard and low and it was heading for the far inside netting until Chenoweth dived full length to push it wide.
The rest of the half saw a lot of huffing and puffing, mainly from your correspondent trying to keep warm, but no one came as close again. A tight first half with chances pretty evenly split set up a second half full of possibility. Whether the Christmas turkey had started to settle, or the players were fatigued by the winter conditions, the second half saw little action at either end.
Possibly the best chance fell again to Simmo. He started the move himself when he fed Turner on the right, he moved it on to Harris, who found Prynn in the area. He jiggled this way and that before cutting it back to Simmo. Sadly, the shot did not match the move and the keeper could drop his hat on it, as they used to say in the 1930s. Late on Simmo turned provider when setting up Turner twenty yards out. He pushed it into the box but curled it just over.
And with that the match petered out. Blood red skies hung over Interiora Trungle Parc as these two mid-table sides failed to find the cutting edge that would have ended their years with a bang. The result was probably just about right but Mousehole will be regretting another two lost points at home.
