Falmouth Town v Tavistock AFC
FOR A MAN WHO IS MORE THAN SLIGHTLY OBSESSED with cup football I have a bit of a strange relationship with cup finals. Much as I love the sense of occasion and the ultimate drama of the winners lifting the cup, I sometimes prefer the earlier rounds.
Standing in the cold and rain at a basic park ground hidden away from the tourist gems of Cornwall, watching a game between two battling sides in the first or second tie of a competition, with all their hopes and dreams of a special season still alive, thrills my cup football blogging soul. The sporting potential for just about anything to happen is vast. Who knows where this cup football journey will end?
But, by the time you get to the final, virtually all of those hopes have died. By the final whistle, only one set of joyful dreams will have been realised and, for everyone, it will be the end of the cup road for another season.
Many years ago, I walked the entire 177-mile length of the Offa’s Dyke Path, finishing by dipping my toes in the sea at Prestatyn after ten days of hiking. “Yes, I have done it,” I thought loudly to myself, “What a great thing to have done.”
“Er, right, what happens next?”
That’s the feeling I sometimes get about cup finals. Maybe I just don’t like endings.
But the truth is that, despite this being the final of the competition with the best name in the world – the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup – I wasn’t entirely looking forward to it, I didn’t want my cup journey to be over.
Boy, am I glad I went, though.
This was an absolute humdinger of a cup final. We had some cracking goals, the lead changing hands, extra time, a 20-player flare-up, missed chances, goalmouth incidents galore and a stunning hat-trick to cap it all. What a game, probably the best cup tie I have seen all season. The action just never stopped.
So, instead of my normal waffling about everything and anything, I am going to let the football do the talking in this blog. But first, let me set the scene.
Tavistock were champions of the SWPL last season and have finished as runners-up this time around, behind runaway winners Plymouth Parkway. Falmouth Town, meanwhile, a “sleeping giant” of the Cornish soccer scene, have had their best season for many a long year, finishing third in the Premier Division table, albeit ten points behind Tavvy. These were two quality sides and their meeting in this final promised much.
The venue was also pretty impressive, with Wadebridge Town’s Bodieve Park looking simply superb in the spring sunshine. It’s a ground I have been to on several occasions but I have never seen it looking better than this. The fact that 405 fans rocked up added to the power of the setting, while the atmosphere and sense of occasion was only bolstered by the chanting from both sets of fans, especially the loud and lairy Falmouth contingent. They were great fun but, to be fair, I wasn’t standing next to them!
And so to the football and, as a soon as the whistle went, it was clear to see that both sides were fully up for it, fully committed and fully determined to get their hands on the silverware. The early signs promised a great game and it turned into an absolute classic.
Tavvy started the brighter but Falmouth soon hit back and were definitely on top – right up until the 24th minute when The Lambs from Devon took the lead. They were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box and tried a training ground move, which didn’t come off. However, the ref decided he wasn’t ready and ordered it to be retaken. So Tavistock tried again, pulled another routine out of the hat, made it work better this time and Josh Grant swept in the opener. It was a cracking goal, and turned out to be the first of many on an afternoon of quality strikes.
Now, I know it was Josh Grant in the 24th minute because, not only was I timing the game as normal, but there was an actual announcer telling you what was going on. Now, that’s definitely big time! (Sadly, the PA system struggled from this point on and no more goalscorers or times were announced. That’s Non-League for you).
The Cornish side were not phased though and proceeded to dominate the rest of the first half, at least in terms of chances and possession, but Tavvy always looked dangerous going forward, their neat and tidy play just lacking that all-important final touch at times.
Fal almost levelled just before half-time but were denied by a super save. However, a real moment of magic on 51 minutes saw them get the equaliser. Town came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half and were rewarded when Jordan Annear smashed home a flying volley/bicycle kick. It was a real top-class strike – and it wasn’t to be his last major contribution to the game.
Four minutes later came only the real flashpoint of the game when a terrible Tavvy tackle led to virtually everyone getting involved in a melee that saw another Fal player left on the deck. Now, I have been watching Tavistock for more than a decade now – they were the closest ground with floodlights to where I used to live – and they have always had a tendency to hit the self-destruct button where they overdo the aggression bit. They almost always have a player sent off when I watch them – and I thought this incident would lead to that happening again. However, after a long deliberation with his fellow officials, the ref decided to just yellow card two Tavvy players and kept the red in his pocket. The Falmouth fans were not impressed.
On 68 minutes, though, the Cornish contingent were dancing again as Falmouth took the lead, Luke Brabyn getting the final touch as the ball bounced about the penalty box. Cue mayhem and mania among the Cornish contingent. Hands almost on the cup? Nah, Tavistock were having none of it. The Devon side just got stronger and stronger as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser, which came in some style on 79 minutes when Dan Sullivan thumped home a spectacular 25-yarder into the top corner. It was another moment of real quality in this top quality cup final.
However, the Devon side, who were well on top at this stage, could not force a winner and so the tie headed into extra time. Good. Another 30 minutes of this would be a real treat.
In fact, we got a bit more than that as the first half of extra time lasted 20 minutes rather than 15 as the game was delayed for a good five minutes after a nasty clash of heads. And Falmouth made good use of the injury time in extra time, Annear forcing his way through four minutes into the added five to net his second and Falmouth’s third. Could Tavistock hit back again?
That question was, more or less, answered midway through the second half of extra time, when Annear took advantage of a mix-up in the Tavvy defence to roll his third and Falmouth’s fourth just inside the post. Cue another Cornish celebration.
But Tavistock weren’t done yet. They had the ball in the net almost immediately but it was correctly ruled out for offside. There followed a couple of really good saves from the Town keeper, a couple of proper old-fashioned goalmouth scrambles in the Falmouth box, and a couple of near-misses. Cornish nerves were definitely jangling.
However, those nerves turned to jubilation and Tavvy’s hopes turned to tears when the ref eventually blew the final whistle after more than two hours of non-stop cup thrills and spills. It sparked some of the most joyous scenes I have witnessed in three seasons of writing this blog as the Falmouth players and fans noisily celebrated together while the Tavistock players slumped to the ground in dismay.
What a game, what a cup final. I am so glad my Walter C Parson cup road led me to this glorious conclusion.
Let’s do it all again soon.
THE STATISTICS BIT AND MORE PICTURES
Falmouth Town 4 Tavistock AFC 2 (after extra time)
(Half-time 0-1. Half-time in extra-time 3-2)
Played at Bodieve Park, Wadebridge, on Saturday, May 12, 2018
Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup Final
Cup matches watched this season: 32
Home wins: 18
Away wins: 6
Draws: 3
Games at neutral venues: 5
Number of competitions watched: 13
Home goals: 73
Away goals: 38
Goals at neutral venues: 23
Total goals: 134
PICTURES EXTRA (lots of them)
CONTACT
If you have any thoughts or comments about this blog, email me at thecupfootballblogger@hotmail.com; find me on Twitter via @cupfootballblog; or find me on Facebook at Peter Harlow (the cup football blogger)
thecupfootballblogger 