Illogan RBL 2 St Day 1
LWC Drinks Cornwall Combination League Cup Final
Falmouth Town 2 Saltash United 1
RGB Building Supplies Cornwall Senior Cup Final
DATELINES: Gala Parc, Porthleven, Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019; and Priory Park, Bodmin, Easter Monday, April 22, 2019.
MATCH SUMMARIES: Two days, two tense cup finals, two holders toppled. Firstly, it was the turn of St Day and Illogan RBL to slug it out in the LWC Drinks Cornwall Combination League Cup Final at a gloriously sunny Gala Parc, Porthleven. St Day won the cup last year for the third time in six years but couldn’t make it four in seven, going down to an own goal and a header from a corner. Their consolation was that the goal they scored was one of the best I have seen all season and their excited fans definitely won the noise battle on the day. The Combination is at Step Eight of the Non-League Pyramid and we all took two steps up on Easter Monday when Step Six rivals Saltash United and Falmouth Town battled it out for the most prestigious title in football in the Duchy – the RGB Building Supplies Cornwall Senior Cup. Another header from a corner, this time for Falmouth Town, proved decisive again, although holders Saltash will claim that a hotly contested red card early in the second half was a major turning point in their title defence.
THE BLOG: Across the world, Easter means lots of different things to lots of different people. To millions of committed Christians, it is the most holy time of year. To millions more around the globe, it means lots of chocolates and sticky buns. And to millions more, bizarrely, it means bunnies. Funny old world.
To me, it means cup finals.
Well, actually, it used to mean cup semi-finals as the FA Cup final four, my birthday and Easter often seemed to coincide, which was all very exciting for a child obsessed by football, Easter eggs and jelly and ice cream. But now that I am all growed up (and then some) and living in deepest Cornwall, Easter means cup finals.
The biggest game of them all in the Duchy, the Cornwall Senior Cup Final, is traditionally played on Easter Monday. And the Cornwall Combination League Cup Final, the battle for knockout supremacy in the western half of Cornwall, takes place each year on Easter Sunday. What a perfect couple of days for a cup football blogger.
And this year, it was probably the best couple of days of footballing fun I have had in four seasons of writing this blog. The football wasn’t always scintillating sensational but the occasions were. So let’s start at the beginning and take this in chronological order.
Every season, bloggers and charity fundraisers across the nation embark on the road to Wembley, following the likes of the FA Vase, FA Trophy and FA Cup from the preliminary rounds all the way to the Twin Towers, sorry, Big Shiny Arch for the finals.
But for West Cornwall’s big knockout tournament, the LWC Drinks Cornwall Combination League Cup, the road isn’t to Wembley, it’s to a different venue each season – although it’s usually Gala Parc, Porthleven. So it was again this year, for the 12th time this century.
And what a fabulous choice it proved to be.
Gala Parc is always a pretty ground, with its grass banks, park benches and oceans of space but, in Sunday’s glorious wall-to-wall sunshine, it was simply magnificent. With more than 400 people in the ground and a fabulous seaside atmosphere, it felt more like being at a festival than at a non-league football match. In four season of doing this blog, I have never felt an atmosphere quite like it. I absolutely loved it.
There was plenty of singing and chanting, lots of happy chatting, and loads and loads of smiles. It was a beautiful example of just how the beautiful game should be.
The anticipation before the game and, in truth, the feeling before any cup final occasion, was brilliantly summed up in a tweet by St Day’s Rob Hosking when he said: “Cup final day! A day when all those cold n wet training sessions, matches played in hurricane conditions, shift swaps & night shifts, all become worthwhile.”
I can’t argue with any of that.
The match itself was a tense affair. That affected the quality on show at times and both sides will feel that they have played better at other times of the season than they did on Sunday. The match was always watchable and intriguing, though, and there was really nothing to choose between the sides.
St Day were in the final for the fourth time in seven seasons and had won on each previous occasion, but they fell behind in the first half to an unfortunate own goal. A long ball forward from the Illogan keeper seemed to be making its way all the way through to the Saints’ keeper but, just as he took a step out towards the ball, his centre-half Matt Witts decided that he would back-head it back to him. Unluckily for St Day, he got just enough on it to loop the ball over the keeper and into the middle of his own net. Sad on any day, but doubly so in a cup final.
Saints, the cup holders, showed their fighting spirit, though, and equalised on 54 minutes with the best goal of the game and possibly the best I have seen this season. A series of one-twos and short, sharp passes ended with Chris Dobson firing home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box. It was a cracking goal which was loudly appreciated by the large St Day contingent in the crowd – the loudest roar for a goal I have heard this season.
I think most people in the ground thought that St Day would probably go on from here and lift the trophy again but the match stayed as tight as ever. The decisive moment came when, with extra-time and more sunburn looming, Illogan skipper Steve Abbott-Smith found space from a corner and headed home with a thumping finish.
There was no way back from that for St Day and, after the cup presentations and the usual rendition of “Championes, championes, ole, ole, ole” from the victors (I am sure European linguists think they are singing about mushrooms) we all headed off in search of a cooling beer, some cooling after-sun lotion and a sneaking suspicion that the next day’s Senior Cup Final couldn’t possibly live up to the festival of fun we had had at Porthleven.
It gave it a good go though.
Two things perhaps went against Monday living up to Sunday. Firstly, Bodmin is not as pretty as Porthleven and, secondly, the weather had turned decidedly greyer and colder, even with a hint of rain. No need to worry about getting sunburnt this time.
But none of that bothered the fans of Saltash United and Falmouth Town, who had turned up in numbers to cheer on their sides, The Ashes determined to hang on to the trophy they won last season and Falmouth determined to lift the Cornwall Senior Cup for the first time since 1997, too long for a club of Town’s size, a proper Cornish sleeping giant.
Such was the rush to get in – and the determination to have one last drink before leaving the clubhouse – that there was a 10-minute queue at the gate, which was spent listening to the good-natured banter of those patiently waiting to get in, watching the waving black-and-yellow flags of the lively Fal contingent, and worrying that we might miss the kick-off.
You never want to get in to a game late as you never know what you might miss. If you had got to Priory Park, Bodmin, seven minutes late on Monday, you would have already missed two goals.
The loud Falmouth fans were silenced very early on when Saltash’s top striker Ryan Richards took advantage of a couple of slips in the Town defence to give the holders the lead after just three minutes. But the Fal followers were in full voice again just three minutes later when Joe Cooper volleyed home the equaliser from a corner.
This looked like being a very lively encounter and it was certainly a clash of styles. Saltash were a very neat footballing side – they are going to finish fourth or fifth in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Premier Division, a place or two above Falmouth who, on Monday, adopted a much more direct approach, making use of their quick players up front. It was fascinating to watch.
But probably the real turning point of the match was not tactical, nor a moment of genius, it was a yellow card that turned red. Saltash midfielder Richard Maddison had been booked in the first half and, just five minutes into the second half, he saw yellow again. It came after a collision in midfield which also resulted in him handling the ball.
Now, I’m not the ref so I don’t know whether he booked him for the foul or the handball but, either way, it felt a bit harsh. It probably was a yellow card offence but, having already been booked, it was a classic case of two yellows not really adding up to a red. A very deep orange, perhaps, but not quite a red. I felt he was unlucky. Sorry ref.
Saltash were upset but still kept playing their football. In all honesty, once they had settled down again, it was hard to tell which team had ten men and which had eleven.
Then, for the second time in two days, a more or less free header from a corner late on in the game settled the destination of the cup. The scorers this time were Falmouth, centre-half James Ward heading home Dave Broglino’s corner at the far post.
Cue pandemonium. There was noise, cheering, flag-waving and, a first for me at this level of football, flares let off among the delighted Fal supporters. The last time I saw one of them was at Plymouth Argyle a few seasons back when one was thrown at us Millwall supporters as we left the ground. We just threw it back and kept walking.
At the final whistle there was the usual cup final joy and despair, with Falmouth absolutely delighted to have finally won the Senior Cup and Saltash not only gutted at having let the trophy slip from their grasp but angry too. They really didn’t like the red card.
But they will soon get their chance of revenge. These two teams meet again on May 11 in the final of the brilliantly named Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup and, this time, it will be Falmouth trying to hold on to their crown, having won the cup last season.
I can’t wait.
THE PICTURES
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