On the 22nd February 2025 Mousehole won two nil away at Bristol Manor Farm. Ten away matches and two hundred and forty-one days later the Seagulls finally brought home three points again. If the wait had been too long, it was almost worth it because the fashion of the victory was glorious and all but wiped out the memories of the fruitless away trips in the intervening months.
More often than is common across the football world, the team that scores first in Mousehole games is not the team that takes home the bacon. This meant that whilst Hayden Turner’s twenty-first minute opener was celebrated wildly by the travelling fans, there was a hint of caution in the cheers.
The goal was not against the run of play, indeed Mousehole could have been two or three up already before the Hitman struck, with efforts from Cairo and Cook missing narrowly and Mitchell having been denied by the offside flag. Turner struck when a defender mis-controlled a through ball from Mitchell. Taking one touch to get the ball out of his feet, he cracked it across the keeper just inside the far post.
The rest of the half was more even with both sides having good chances but as the half neared its close Turner levelled the scores with an unfortunate own goal. A long cross from the Shaftesbury left went beyond the far post where Turner was ‘lurking’. In trying to head it ‘out for a corner’/ ‘out for a throw in’ / ‘back to Ollie’ , he inadvertently put it past the man in turquoise much to the delight of the home fans. ( delete as applicable, no one really knows).
Mousehole have had a few first halves this season where they’ve been lucky to go in only one down or level, but on this occasion, it was the Seagulls who felt hard done by. A really strong first half should have given them the lead. How would they react to this disappointment was the question on the lips of the very strong away support? It turned out that they reacted marvellously.
Just seven minutes after the restart the lead was regained thanks to a thunderbolt from the Tallan Mitchell boot. A Turner throw-in on the left was only partially cleared and when it found its way back to him, he laid it inside to Tallan. He looked up and from twenty yards sent a rocket across the keeper just inside the far post.
The next ten minutes saw the home team desperately trying to draw level, mainly by sending long balls in to the box. These were dealt with well by a back line missing the granite forehead of James Ward.
After sixty-eight minutes it looked like game over thanks, once again, to the Mithcell-Turner double-act. This time it was Mitchell setting up Turner. In a similar position to the previous goal, the shot and outcome were almost identical as for the third time in the game the home keeper couldn’t cope with a shot across his bows!
Chances thereafter were few until the cherry was applied to the icing on the cake. When a Shaftesbury attack fell apart, Jacob Kevern lumped the ball clear. The home defender couldn’t deal with the pressure applied by Liam Prynn and our number nineteen emerged with the ball. He pushed it down the right touchline before rolling it across to Mitchell on the edge of the box. He looked around for Turner and not finding him, he finished it himself in fine fashion resulting in a player and crowd love-in on the touchline.
It’s been a tough eight months on the road for players, staff and fans alike so this was a victory that was long awaited and celebrated with much glee. Four points from two away games feels like a turning point. Here’s hoping we can start looking up from now on but whatever happens this glorious win will live long in the memories of all who were there.
