FALMOUTH TOWN 2-2 MALVERN TOWN
Falmouth Town came off the back of their narrow 2-1 defeat away to Westbury United on Saturday needing something from this game against the in-form Malvern Town, who have won 10 and drawn 2 of their last 12 games. Against all the odds, given that they were 2-0 down going into the last 5 minutes of the game, they mounted an amazing comeback to draw the tie 2-2.
Jared Sims, Jacob Bowker and Freddie Walter replaced Cam Hutchinson, Ollie Walker and Ned Symons from Saturday’s starting line-up. Bowker interestingly assuming the No:10 role.
It was a niggly start from Malvern with lots of small fouls being committed and not all of them being picked up by the referee. In fact, it was to be a theme of the match that referee Neil Lane would let lots of manhandling, pushing and general clever foul play go unpunished for both sides.
It was a first half of very few chances as the defences reigned supreme and it was not until 29 minutes that the first goal threat was created. The ball was played into the box towards Bowker who cleverly chested it down for a volley which just cleared the crossbar.
Malvern were creating half-chances but nothing to greatly trouble Morgan Coxhead in the Falmouth goal and it finished 0-0 at the break.
The second half however was a different story. Malvern started with renewed purpose and only had to wait 3 minutes to take the lead. A corner from the left found Sam Clark attacking the near post. Having got in front of his defender, he converted with a glancing header which flew past Coxhead and Falmouth were 1-0 down.
It was important that Falmouth tried to hit back early but Malvern, off the back of their recent excellent form, were in no mood to let Falmouth back into the game. They comfortably had the upper hand and Falmouth were being rushed whilst on the ball and ending up just clearing their lines and losing possession.
Malvern were increasingly starting to trouble the Falmouth defence, and on 26 minutes they missed a great opportunity to go 2-0 up with Jack Watts blazing the over the bar from just inside of the box. Jacob Bowker was forced off the field with what looked like a hamstring strain soon after and was replaced by Cam Hutchison. This proved to be a positive as he started running with the ball, committing defenders and generally getting Falmouth up the pitch.
However, Malvern were threatening the Falmouth goal more and more and on 38 minutes, a good move down the left ended with left-back Luke Payne driving into the box, and his low whipped cross deflected cruelly off a Falmouth defender and into the Falmouth net, leaving Coxhead stranded.
The game looked lost and manager Andy Westgarth could only look to an inexperienced bench to try to change things, but there was to be an exciting sting in the tail to this game. Falmouth immediately upped their tempo and started to push further forward. Just three minutes after conceding, a rare period of sustained pressure down the left flank led to a deep cross being delivered to the far post, where the ever-reliable Luke Barner was waiting to lash the ball home and set up what looked to be an unlikely come back.
Defying the pattern of the preceding 84 minutes, Malvern were now being forced to defend deep and were under some real pressure. Another deep cross from the left found Barner again but this time a defender blocked his shot. The ball deflected out to Andreas Calleja-Stayne, who had turned in his usual workmanlike performance at the heart of Falmouth’s midfield. On the edge of the box he hit his shot first time and it flew past Josh Bishop in the Malvern goal for an unlikely equaliser in the last minute of normal time.
Five minutes of stoppage time was announced. Falmouth immediately consolidated and rightly tried to defend their hard-earned point. Malvern were unable to hit back and Falmouth had achieved a creditable draw against their high-flying opponents. Several of the Mousehole contingent spotted in the ground would have left in a good spirits as one of their rivals for the play-offs had dropped points. Falmouth on the other hand will have gained some confidence as they prepare to welcome Melksham Town on Saturday, with a view to denting the hopes of another team with play-off ambitions, and more importantly gaining 3 more points to achieve a comfortable mid-table finish in their first season ever at this level.
Goals:
Falmouth Town
Luke Barner 84′
Andreas Calleja-Stayne 94′
Malvern Town
Sam Clark 48′
Luke Payne 81′
Att: 315
Malvern Town: Joshua Bishop, Cam Walters, Luke Payne, Dion Molyneux, Charlie Johnson, Levi Francis, Sam Clark, Lewis Spurrier, Jack watts, Joseph Tumelty, Joseph Bullock. Subs: Ben Hayes, Miles Freguson, Ben Hamett, Ryan Brunt, Thomas Fairclough.