Falmouth Town coach Charlie Davis was pleased with his side’s attacking display as they reached the next round of the FA Vase with a 3-1 victory over St Austell on Saturday.
Tom Annear opened the scoring early in the second half with a fantastic free-kick before Tim Nixon doubled the advantage ten minutes later.
Liam Dingle pulled one back from the spot for the visitors but Charlie Edney secured victory for the hosts when he nodded in a third late on.
Town can now look forward to a second qualifying round tie at home to St Austell’s South West Peninsula League colleagues Launceston next month, with a place in the first round proper up for grabs.
“Overall, I thought [in the] first half we were really good value performance-wise and felt we played some really good attacking football against a decent side,” Davis said at full-time. “They sat really deep and made it difficult for us to break down, but I thought our passing and our forward play was excellent.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t top off that first half with a goal but that gave us a different challenge in the second half. We thought that St Austell then grew into the game for periods of the second half so that game plan for them worked really well, but I felt overall we dealt with it and got goals at really important times, and some good goals as well, and I’m delighted to be in the next round.”
The win was a perfect tonic for Town following a disappointing pair of 2-1 defeats at local rivals Helston Athletic in the FA Cup and Western League respectively, and Davis felt his side put things right on Saturday.
“Nobody likes losing, nobody turns up to lose and we’re no different,” he said. “We’re realistic with our goals and ambitions for the year but we do set a high standard and defeats hurt, especially against our local rivals. We spoke about it openly as a group and wanted to put things right today, and I think we did.”
The highlight of the game was a cracking opening goal from Annear, who broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with a sublime free-kick. Luke Barner was brought down on the edge of the box and, following a short delay, Annear stepped up to guide the ball into the top corner, leaving Lillywhites goalkeeper Brett Allen firmly rooted to his spot.
It was a stunning way to get Town’s afternoon going after a dominant but ultimately scoreless first half, and Davis was thrilled to see his side eventually get their rewards for their hard work in attack.
“I’ll always back us [to find a way to score] in that sense but I suppose you just hope that you turn that [pressure] into a decent chance,” Davis said. “I thought that actually it might take a little moment of magic to break the deadlock and settle us down, and Tom’s free-kick, I haven’t seen a better one than that for a number of years in fairness to him. He hit a very good one at Millbrook but that was [unbelievable], I can’t wait to watch it back.”
Substitute Nixon made it 2-0 with a fine finish shortly after coming off the bench before Dingle’s penalty made the final quarter of an hour interesting, but young forward Edney confirmed victory for the home side late on when he expertly nodded in for his second of the season.
The goal came from a well-worked corner routine, with Nixon’s delivery being met by skipper James Ward, whose header back into the centre of the box was smartly put away by Edney.
“We work really hard on our set pieces and it’s great to get your rewards from it and it just shows that it’s not all always about the centre-halves and their movement for those goals. Charlie’s had to stay alert and react to the second ball and I’m chuffed for Charlie to get another goal at home here and his first in the FA Vase,” Davis said.
“He’s a real handful and people are still forgetting how young Charlie is and he’s got some great people that he can learn from. I don’t mean the coaching staff, everyone in the team’s got a lot of time for him, and the best thing is he’s a local lad so I’m absolutely chuffed to bits when I see him on the scoresheet, especially at home.”