Falmouth Town will be bidding for back-to-back Western League wins on Wednesday night when they welcome Torpoint Athletic to Bickland Park (kick-off 7.45pm).
Town are coming into the game off the back of a confidence-boosting 4-0 thrashing of Clevedon Town on Saturday that saw them leap to tenth in the table, while Dean Cardew’s Torpoint picked up their first point of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to Cadbury Heath in what was their second league match.
The two sides, who were both promoted from the South West Peninsula League at the end of last season, will be somewhat familiar with each other, with the teams having met in the SWPL’s Champions Bowl match in May. Two late Luke Brabyn penalties secured a 4-2 victory for Andrew Westgarth’s side on that day as the west division champions prevailed over the east division winners.
The teams will meet in a regular league match for the first time since the 2018/19 season, with Town triumphing 3-1 at Bickland Park in September 2018 before Torpoint exacted revenge at The Mill in February 2019.
Falmouth’s season so far has been beset by squad availability issues, but the cavalry returned in Saturday’s comprehensive victory over Clevedon and Westgarth is happy to have plenty of options available once again.
“When you win a game of football the next game can’t come quick enough, and I think with the squad looking how it is now we can look at things and we’ve got the option now to make some changes,” Westgarth said.
“It’s important that we kick on and get those wins and just keep ticking over. Torpoint are a tough side, we played them in the Bowl and we know the firepower they’ve got, but it’s like any team in this league, travelling is always a challenge, so for them to come down here on a Wednesday night is always a challenge.
“Touch wood, other than Jack Bray-Evans who seems to be struggling with an injury at the minute, we’ve got a full squad, and off the back of [Saturday] I think everyone will be excited.”
Wednesday’s match will be Town’s final game before an enthralling double-header at local rivals Helston Athletic, with the teams meeting at Kellaway Park in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday before returning to the same ground in the league three days later.
With an FA Vase first qualifying round tie at home to St Austell coming up next weekend, a positive result against Torpoint on Wednesday will be even more welcome ahead of a busy period for the club.
“Winning breeds confidence so if we can win against Torpoint it sets us up for the two games against Helston and I’m sure they’ll be mouthwatering, bring it on,” Westgarth said. “From speaking to a lot of the managers last year the games [in this division] are thick and fast.
“These should be games that you want to be playing; we’re playing the champions of the east division and then we’re playing our local rivals twice. St Austell will also be a challenge and they’re great games that we want to be part of.”
Town’s last four matches:
Aug 13: Falmouth Town 4-0 Clevedon Town (League)
Aug 6: Falmouth Town 2-1 Saltash United (FA Cup)
Aug 2: Millbrook 3-1 Falmouth Town (League)
Jul 30: Falmouth Town 2-2 Wellington (League)
Torpoint’s last four matches:
Aug 13: Torpoint Athletic 1-1 Cadbury Heath (League)
Aug 9: Millbrook 0-1 Torpoint Athletic (FA Cup)
Aug 6: Torpoint Athletic 1-1 Millbrook (FA Cup)
Jul 30: Torpoint Athletic 1-5 Mousehole (League)