Trelawny League

Premier Division

Saturday 8th April 2023

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.32

Troon 0 West Cornwall 2, attendance 62

22’ 0-1

35’ 0-2

@ Grouter Park

Troon Moor

Troon

TR14 9HT

No Admission or Programme.

When I decided on this game at the start of the week, which would be my debut in the Trelawny League, there were still three teams in with a shout of the title and this was 1st versus 3rd. Unfortunately, West Cornwall lost away to Illogan RBL Reserves on Wednesday night, which meant they could only now finish second, but a Troon win would see them finish the season on 42 points, which would be five points clear of second placed Ludgvan, who had two away games to play, both of which looked winnable. However, at some stage between Friday evening and kick off, Troon had been awarded three points from a game they had lost 1-5 at home to Camborne School of Mines (4th in table) on March 4th, due to an ineligible player being used, so Troon had already been crowned champions.

It was disappointing, but I only became aware of the situation a couple of minutes before kick off, so it was too late to go elsewhere. The game was really poor. With neither team having anything left to play for it was pretty turgid stuff. Troon certainly didn’t look like a team that had won the league and it was an easy win for West Cornwall. Hard to judge whether this is a decent league or not on this showing. It was certainly not something I would bother with again if I had an alternative option.

West Cornwall opened the scoring midway through the first half, hooking in from 6 yards after a corner wasn’t cleared and they doubled their lead ten minutes before halftime, when a long ball was fumbled by the home ‘keeper, leaving an easy tap in for the striker. The ‘keeper was lucky to still be on the pitch at this stage, as he only got booked for a handball outside his box, when he stopped a West Cornwall player from making a pass across the box for a tap in and then chased the goal scorer of the second goal back to the centre circle, before shoving him in the back, right in front of the Referee.

The second half deteriorated badly. The only thing of note was when West Cornwall saw a header towards the top corner brilliantly tipped over. The match was very disappointing, but the ground more than made up for it. It is probably one of the better grounds in this league, perhaps testament to the days Troon spent playing in the Cornwall Combination League, a level that they haven’t been at since 2015.