Tim Nixon scored twice as Falmouth Town thrashed Clevedon Town 4-0 at Bickland Park on Saturday to earn their first win since returning to the Western League.
James Swan opened the scoring after 13 minutes before Nixon netted twice either side of Alex Wharton’s close-range finish to give Town a handsome four-goal lead at the break.
The second half was a much quieter affair with the work having been done in the first 45 minutes, with Town comfortably closing out their first Western League victory since 1983.
The win sees Town jump four places to tenth in the early Western League Premier Division table, with Andrew Westgarth’s side, who now have four points from three games, returning to Bickland Park on Wednesday night for the visit of Torpoint Athletic.
Town were handed an early blow after 12 minutes when Jack Bray-Evans came off injured, but the home side were celebrating less than a minute later when Swan picked the ball up on the edge of the box and rifled it into the bottom corner, courtesy of a small deflection.
The first drinks break on a sweltering afternoon came midway through the first half, with Town doubling their advantage within two minutes of the restart. A deflection off Charlie Edney’s pass dropped nicely for Nixon on the edge of the box, who controlled the ball before drilling it past Seasiders gloveman Luca Smith.
Smith did brilliantly to deny Tom Annear from making it three from a free-kick that seemeed destined for the top corner, but he was picking the ball out for the third time shortly after. Nixon and Annear turned provider, with the latter flicking the former’s corner towards Wharton, who turned the ball home from six yards out.
Nixon then capped off a fantastic first half both for Town and him personally shortly before the interval. The lively Jack Webber was hauled down on the edge of the box and Nixon stepped up to drive the free-kick through the wall and into the bottom corner.
The second half was a much quieter affair with Town opting to use all of their five substitutions early in the half. Clevedon’s hopes of pulling a goal or two back were limited, with Alex Camm striking the upright before Ethan Feltham shot over when through on goal.
Feltham had the best chance of all ten minutes from time when he found himself in on goal, with Ryan Barnes, who also saved Archie Ferris’ back-post header two minutes earlier, doing brilliantly to smother the strike and preserve his clean sheet.
Clevedon thought they had pulled one back in the 83rd minute when one of their substitutes nodded past Barnes, only for the assistant referee’s flag to cut the Seasiders celebrations short.
The final few minutes saw Town try to add a final flourish to the scoreline, with Smith pulling off two fantastic saves to deny substitutes Luke Brabyn and Luke Barner as the hosts settled for four at the end of a fine afternoon.
Falmouth: R Barnes, K Gordon-Dunn (S Kellow 62), K Davies, J Webber, T Annear, J Ward, A Wharton (L Brabyn 45), A Calleja-Stayne, J Bray-Evans (C Edney 12 (L Barner 65)), J Swan (C Hutchison 57), T Nixon.
Clevedon: L Smith, E Nicholson, S Iles, J Pitt, C Entwood, S Camper, A Camm, M Osmond, A Ferris, E Feltham, F King. Subs: T Kemble, C Lovell, S Kent, H Westlake, F Biggs.