Western League

Premier Division

Friday 7th April 2023

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.02

Falmouth Town 5 Cadbury Heath 1, attendance 491

26’ 1-0

45’ 1-1

45’ + 2, 2-1

62’ 3-1

80’ 4-1

85’ 5-1

@ Bickland Park

Bickland Water Road

Falmouth

TR11 4PB

£6 Admission

Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

With no games at grounds I hadn’t previously visited scheduled for this afternoon, I decided on a re-visit to Falmouth Town. As we were based in Falmouth, I had to drive back there anyway and I last came to a game here back in August 1998, so didn’t really appreciate just how good a ground Bickland Park was, or still is, for that matter.

Today’s match was 8th versus 18th (out of 19) and a bit of an odd one for a Bank Holiday as Cadbury Heath to Falmouth is just over 190 miles and not a journey you’d relish down the M5 and A30 on one of the busiest days of the year as far as traffic congestion goes. Not surprisingly, there were only a handful of away supporters and considering Falmouth are not really challenging at the top of the table, it was pretty impressive to pull in a crowd just shy of 500.

Falmouth dominated the early exchanges, opening the scoring after twenty six minutes, heading down and in off the far post following a cross from the left. Cadbury Heath made a real game of it and deservedly levelled in the final minute of the first half, with a cross/shot from a tight angle that struck the far post on its way in. Two minutes into stoppage time Falmouth went back in front, when a miss hit back pass was intercepted and finished in to the bottom corner. Falmouth made it 3-1 just after the hour mark and in between a lovely chipped finish, which made it 4-1 with ten minutes left, the visitors had hit the crossbar and seen their ‘keeper save a Falmouth penalty. Cadbury Heath had a goal disallowed for offside, before a through ball was slotted home into the bottom corner to make it 5-1 as we entered the last five minutes.

St. Piran League

East Division

Friday 7th April 2023

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 10.59

Altarnun 2 St. Dominick 3, attendance 65

7’ 0-1

53’ 1-1

65’ 1-2

81’ 2-2

85’ 2-3

@ Trezibett

Altarnun

PL15 7RF

£3 Admission

No Programme.

Today’s game was 5th versus 3rd in the league table. An early goal, which was at least a couple of yards offside, saw St. Dominick break the deadlock seven minutes into a first half that only came to life in the final five minutes, which saw Altarnun have a shot cleared off the line and the visitors have two great chances, both thwarted by good saves from the home ‘keeper. Eight minutes into the second half Altarnun drew level, coolly lifting the ball over the ‘keeper when played clear on goal. The visitors were soon back in front, shooting into the bottom corner with a shot on the turn. Nine minutes from time Altarnun levelled it up at 2-2, finishing off a through ball with a first time shot from the edge of the 18 yard box that went in off the inside of the post. There was still time for St. Dominick to grab the lead for a third time, when a ball in from the right was finished with a shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards and there was no way back for the hosts this time. The win now sees St. Dominick trail league leaders Saltash Borough by ten points, but with three games in hand, they are still very much in with a shout of the title.

Finding the ground is not easy. The fixture page on the F.A. Full-time website warns you not to use the postcode if using SatNav! Luckily, by using Google Maps and placing the destination manually, it was not a problem. It doesn’t help when the roads around the village have no names. At least confirming that the game was going ahead okay was much easier, as a tweet was answered within minutes by St. Dominick. Makes a change from so many clubs who never reply at all.

The tea bar was very popular at halftime and could have done with being open a little earlier, but not really possible, as the woman manning the entrance gate was also in charge of the tea bar and couldn’t be in two places at once! One other thing of note and certainly not a regular occurrence, was when an Altarnun player went down with cramp late in the game and it was the referee that went to his aid!