Mousehole 1-1 Westbury
Terrible weather which included rain and gale force winds, combined with road closures and a team from a long way away meant that the crowd for this game was the lowest at Trungle for many a year. With the team needing a positive result that was a disappointment but the men in white and green did not let it affect them.
In a first half which was very tight the first chance fell to Mousehole’s returning loanee Ryan Downing. Yes, the same Downing who had traumatised the Seagulls’ defence in the Cornwall Senior Cup Semi Final. The question everyone’s lips was “could he play as well for us as he had against us?” He had the opportunity to answer that in the first few minutes.
Tim Nixon chased a ball down the left and pulled it back to Downing around the penalty spot. With the goal gaping, the floppy haired forward passed the ball wide of the keeper but also wide of the goal. It was the sort of chance that screamed sitter.
Mousehole were made to regret that miss only ten minutes later when Westbury found some space in the middle and sent a pass out to their left. With Seagulls’ defenders running back towards their goal none of them noticed a lone Westburyforward sneaking up behind them. When the cross came in the forward nipped ahead of everyone and got a touch to send it home ahead of Ollie Chenoweth’s diving grasp.
With so much positivity coming on the back of Saturday’s plucky performance against Frome this felt like a blow to the solar-plexus. With half an hour left in the half there was plenty of time but thew teams seemed to cancel each other out to a large extent and neither keeper was overly troubled ahead of the break.
Mousehole knew that Westbury, following a long minibus trip, would be happy to waste time and hold on to what they had so a quick start to the second half was vital. And that is exactly what they got just five minutes after the interval.
From a Westbury goal kick* the ball was lifted high by the wind and attacked as it fell by an advancing Ed Harrison. From there it was flicked on by Downing into the path of Timothy ‘The Nightmare’ Nixon. On the edge of box he let it bounce and as it dropped again he smashed it home. A bit of a route one goal but no one was complaining. At that moment, for the first time in a long while, the momentum was with the men in white and green.
Sadly, they could not capitalise and as the weather worsened and the wind strengthened it became harder and harder to play the sort of football that Mousehole has become famous for. Too often the ball went long, encouraged by the wind at the backs, but too rarely were clear cut chances made. The best chance of the remainder of the match fell to Westbury and it had Seagull hearts in mouths. A bit of pinball ended when the ball rolled into the path of the dark green’s number nine just ten yards out. With only Chenoweth to beat a goal looked certain but when there is Chenoweth to beat nothing is certain and the turquoise clad stopped did what he so often does and saved the day for Mousehole.
They came into the game wanting a win, but in all honesty ended it happy with a point. It’s a question we may repeat a few times in the last few games: was it a point won or two lost? Time will tell.
