Foxhole 1 Mousehole 1

[Darin Morse]

Foxhole 1 Mousehole 1

Saturday 9th April 2011

A combination of woeful finishing and inspired goalkeeping denied Foxhole, missing midweek heroes Tregidgo and Spaul, maximum points from this basement battle played in a fierce wind on a bobbly pitch. Adam Holland's long-range drive which was clawed away by the unorthodox Hall on 13 minutes was followed in fairly rapid succession by a host of squandered opportunities, invariably fallng to Griffin, the best of which occurred shortly before the break when he nodded over Ryan Holland's long drop-kick after the otherwise steadfast Trevail had failed to head away, and just after his inevitable caution for a gratuitous tangle with Tonkin. Reynolds' block from Bird typified the visitors' determination to blockade their penalty area with a flotilla of green shirts, the body language of lone forward Patrick betraying his frustration at the lack of support, particularly once he'd scuffed a couple of half chances offered him by slack defending, although Wing may too have done better after he'd turned Ralph, and Pridham almost capitalised on Matt May's loss of concentration.

Foxhole's complete domination of the second period could easily have produced a tidal wave of goals. Hall misjudged Trudgian's high ball only to be rescued by Tonkin within moments of the restart, while Griffin headed wide Holland's deep cross before shooting weakly following a strong run. The Seagulls' pony-tailed custodian then somehow scooped out Holland's effort before denying Rescorl with a fine save, but could only watch as the unmarked Trudgian's header flew over from eight yards. Eventually, the Foxes made the breakthrough on 62 minutes when Kempthorne returned Griffin's centre for Rescorl to smash home, but clever play from Pridham presented James with ample time and space to equalise five minutes later in Mousehole's sole moment of threat in the entire half.

Pete May's caution for fouling Tonkin in an incident which saw James also booked for needlessly getting involved heralded the beginning of another spell when Foxhole were in total control, but the crucial winner proved elusive. Griffin's profligacy endured, blasting over the bar from the edge of the box after swivelling past Miller, nodding too high following Ralph's flick and fluffing his lines after more good work by Kempthorne, although he was distinctly unfortunate when his low drive rebounded off the inside of the upright straight into the grateful arms of a relieved-looking Hall, whose luck held out again when Trudgian's late effort flashed across goal.

Foxhole (3-5-2): Ryan Holland; Adam Holland, Matt May, Bradley Ralph; CJ Bird, James Cutlan, Peter May, Michael Kempthorne, Tom Rescorl (sub. Joe Egan); Richard Griffin, Adam Trudgian.

Mousehole (4-5-1): Richard Hall; James Tonkin, Will Elstone, Steve Miller, Mark Trevail; Harvey James, Ollie Pridham, Perran Reynolds (sub. Chris Bullock), Cas James, Jack Wing (sub. Antony Nicholls); Tom Patrick.

Referee: Mr Justin Moses (Falmouth).