Photo ©Stuart Richards
We knew going into the game we had some key players unavailable. Danny Gaze, Ryan Beattie, Ewan Howarth and Reece Somers were all missing through a mixture of suspensions, injuries and holidays. But the lads we had in the squad of 14, which included Charlie Stevens, 16, Jaden Maslen, 17, Tom Mortimer, 17 and Ben Aldous, 18, performed heroically to help earn what ended up being a brilliant point.
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Going in at half time down to 10 men, after Charlie Johansen received his second booking for an unfortunate slip, left us massively on the back foot against a very well organised, well drilled and experienced Falmouth. Despite them having the extra man advantage, they struggled to break us down, and really, the chances they created were at a premium. And even when they did get a sniff, there was no getting past the colossal Grant Fisher. His penalty save was exceptional as he dived to his right and got a strong hand on a well struck penalty. That gave the lads a massive lift, and you could really see the belief run through the entire team when Granty saved that pen. It was an incredibly high tempo, full blooded match played, in fairness, in good spirits, despite us ending with 9 and them with 10 believe it or not!
We obviously needed to tweak our formation for rhe second half, and the lads adapted so well with our demands. To a man, the lads stood up to the challenges thrown at them and should be so proud of how they coped. I think the lads showed even more character than we probably knew they had yesterday. Such a great personality trait to have running through your squad. It’s a quick turnaround to get them ready for what appears to be a really difficult test away at Bridgewater on Tuesday, but like we keep saying, one game at a time. We won’t get too carried away with the highs and we won’t get too bothered by the lows.