Unbelievable
EMF released ‘Unbelievable’ in 1990 and 34 years later BMF departed Trungle Parc with a barely believable ticket to the next round of the FA Trophy.
Having not lost at home for over ten games Mousehole entered this game in confident mood but the weather had other ideas. With winds threatening to reach sixty miles an hour the prospects for quality football seemed low. Mousehole’s normal passing style was difficult to maintain in the conditions and was well disrupted by a robust Bristol Manor Farm defence and midfield. It was little surprise that the visitors ended the first half with four bookings. What was unexpected, unbelievable even, was that with only 32% of the ball the men in blue went in 1-0 up. They scored near the break thanks to great work by Rhys Thomas who wriggled free on the left of the box and finished smartly.
Mousehole started the second half slowly, in shock maybe at being behind. All the action took place at the home end with the visitors dominating possession and the green and whites unable to hold on to the ball. This time it was no surprise when the Farm doubled their lead. A poor clearance was quickly moved forward and three passes later it found Louis Britton who had space and time to roll it into an empty net.
From then on Mousehole battled hard but couldn’t find a gap in the Bristol defence. It wasn’t until the eightieth minute that they finally had a shot, a looping clip from Max Hill that the wind took over the bar, and the stand. One more chance came and went. That they only mustered a couple of wayward shots in the second half meant that they never looked like reducing the deficit. This cup run has been a roller coaster but the wheels came off here and the journey ended with heads bowed. It’s rare that no man of the match is announced at Trungle because normally there are four or five contenders but no one could argue that there was a deserved recipient of the bubbly from this match.
The wind blew, the rain fell and Bristol Manor Farm deservedly progressed into the First Round Proper. As for Mousehole, with five wins out of six so far in the league, they are free, as the saying goes, to concentrate on the league. It’s been a fabulous start to the season with a strongly assembled squad so this blip should not take too long to get over.