Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Illogan RBL 0 Truro City Reserves 2 (played at Kellaway Park, Helston).
MY HAT HAS NOW FEATURED AT A HIGHER LEVEL OF FOOTBALL THAN I EVER HAVE. Although it was only a cameo appearance of five or ten minutes, it definitely enjoyed its moment in the, er, sunlight. And it was on the winning side in a cup semi-final. What more could you want?
The semi-final was in the Kernow Stone St Piran League’s League Cup and kicked off on Tuesday evening just as the sun was beginning to set. I had decided, for once, to place myself in a spot behind the goal in the hope of getting some half-decent action pictures. I was the only one in that particular part of the ground and had already been praised for my choice of viewing point by one member of the Illogan coaching staff. “Found yourself a nice quiet spot, eh? Very sensible,” he said as he wandered from the changing rooms to the bench.
Illogan RBL were warming up at this end, the bottom end of Helston Athletic’s Kellaway Park ground, and the sun was already playing its part in proceedings. The Illogan keeper, Barrie John Wyatt, despatched a go-fer to collect his hat from the dressing room – and then the teams changed ends at the toss, meaning that he didn’t need it any more.
The young Truro keeper, Morgan Coxhead, however, had no hat to hand and I could see that he was struggling with the sun in his eyes as the game kicked off. So, about five minutes in, I managed to attract his attention and handed him my Cup Football Blogger-branded baseball cap. It used to be black but is now a fetching shade of distressed grey. He sported it for about ten minutes before the sun set behind the grandstand and then politely handed it back to me during a break in the action. Good man.
I knew by then that I had something to write about whatever happened in the rest of the match so I could relax and just enjoy the game. And enjoy it I really did.
This always looked like being an intriguing cup clash and attracted a better-than-decent crowd of more than 150 people. The St Piran League is what is know as a “regional feeder league” to the Non League System, in effect Step Seven of the Pyramid. Or Tier 11 of the national game for those of you who like to start from the Premier League. It’s a decent standard, or can be. It was on Tuesday night.
Illogan RBL lead the league’s West Division with 19 wins from 23 games while Truro are in fifth place in the 16-team competition. So that promised much. What was also promising was the difference in backgrounds to the two teams. Illogan are an established club with a number of teams at a variety of levels. I even saw their reserves lose their own semi-final last midweek. See my previous blog for more.
Truro City Reserves, on the other hand, were only formed last May, building on the success of the club’s under-18 side which, in its first season, won its own league and cup double. And they are still a side full of young players. Tuesday night’s teamsheet showed that five of their starting eleven were still under-18s.
So lots of contrasts between the teams and lots of questions waiting to be answered. Would Illogan be physically dominant? Would the Truro youngsters be able to dig in? Which footballing style would prove to be the winner – the highly coached City passing style or the more traditional, high-intensity, classic non-league style of Illogan? And would the fact that the occasion was a cup semi-final affect the performance of either side?
I am happy to say that, as a neutral, the match turned out to be an absolute joy to watch as all those questions were answered over an exciting 90 minutes.
Illogan started well and, as they were attacking the goal behind which I was standing, there was plenty of action for me to try to photograph and to revel in. Over the years, I have watched loads of football and so I know how games tend to pan out. As far as I was concerned, Illogan were playing well, playing to their strengths and it was only a matter of time before they took the lead.
So, obviously, Truro went ahead on 12 minutes. What do I know?
A free-kick from the left by Sam Wickins was headed home by Finlay Harrison. It was exactly the kind of goal I hadn’t expected them to score, more of a direct effort than a tidy passing move, and just goes to show one of the beauties of the beautiful game – that you can always expect the unexpected.
I still expected Illogan to fight back and they did play some exciting attacking football but the Truro defence, complete with temporarily behatted keeper, became more and more impressive as the game went on. These are well-organised, well-coached, good young players. It was the first time I had seen them and they were distinctly better than I thought they would be.
I am clearly not a good luck charm for Illogan (I promise I won’t go to any of their big games for a little while now, give the curse time to wear off) but I still felt they would have enough about them to make a comeback. An hour in, though, their task got much harder.
City were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box, Danny Pearce hit it well and it evaded Wyatt in the Illogan goal and ended up in the net. Cue mass celebrations for the Truro players and their coaching staff.
Illogan, as befits a side that is used to winning games, never gave up and you felt that if they could get one goal back then we would be set for a classic cup tie grandstand finish. But they knew it wasn’t going to be their day about ten minutes from time when a superbly struck effort thundered against the post and out again with some of the RBL contingent already cheering, thinking it was going in. It would have been an absolute pearler.
The old cliché is that Illogan can now concentrate on the league but, in their case, it really should be something worth concentrating on. They are four points clear at the top with two games in hand on their nearest challengers and almost have one hand on the championship trophy. I like to be neutral when I do these blogs but, having seen RBL sides lose two semi-finals in a week, I really hope they do go on to win the St Piran League West title. Come on Illogan!
As for Truro, the immediate future is a cup final against Porthleven but their pathway after that isn’t quite so clear. Promotion to the Kitchen Kit South West Peninsula League is still a possibility but could it be as City’s first team?
Truro’s first eleven currently play in the Southern League Premier Division South, the third tier of the Non League System, and are the highest placed Cornish team in football.
Although they don’t play in Cornwall.
They are currently exiled across the Tamar in Devon, sharing the Bolitho Park home of Plymouth Parkway, but whether their hosts want them to stay is a point of much discussion as both sides have seen several home games postponed this season because of the demands on the playing surface. Truro are also attracting very small crowds for the level they are at. Will they be able to survive much longer? It’s a big issue in local football circles.
Ironically, the reserves don’t play in Truro either, with their home games taking place at Carnon Downs. However, that’s only four miles from Truro city centre, which is a bit better than the 100-mile round trip to Plymouth!
But the big message that I took home from Helston on Tuesday night is that, if City’s first team does have to fold (and I sincerely hope they don’t), then there is still a bright footballing future for Cornwall’s capital city. These boys are good. And my hat can claim a part in their success … which is a neat trick!
PICTURES: Search for “Peter Harlow” on Facebook and there you will find a selection of snapshots taken on my phone.
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