Golden Balls

I don’t think Swanny quite gets the accolades he deserves IMO. He’s nineteen - talking to his parents - he’s not twenty until the end of April. There aren’t too many of his age that have that amount of minutes played this season in the Western League under their respective belts. They have played Barnstaple three times and each time won pretty much every battle against established, and vastly more experienced attacking players. This has been the story of this season so far for him. I listen to the podcast, read the forum and all of the plaudits are for Tom Annear, James Ward and Brad Leivers and not too many mention about Swanny and his work. Don’t get me wrong - Wardy, Tom and Brad are all deserving but equally is James Swan. I think he’s an easy pick for Westy who must appreciate the work he does and let’s not forget is still learning his craft and part of the best defence in the Western League. He has all the attributes to play higher too. He was solid yesterday and thwarted a lot of attacks down Barnstaples left hand side - especially after Barnstaple pulled one back. I think he’s one of two or three players who aren’t necessarily flash and tricky but still go about their work quietly and efficiently when needed to win difficult matches for Town.

Falmouth Town 3-1 Barnstaple. Went behind after a couple of mins, then proceeded to starve Barnstaple of possession. Aggressive defensive and midfield play to keep getting the ball back along with the back line consistently turning defense into attack. Young Falmouth team are starting to get more streetwise and do the things necessary to get results. A deserved win against a strong, previously unbeaten opposition. Barnstaple didn’t give up and kept trying, showing why they have the record they have this season.

Not much damage caused either when a pitch invasion occurs…..

And pays well. Will he soon be singing his own intro/theme tune - Dennis Waterman style?🤷‍♂️ Won’t have to worry about copyright then.

The game must’ve been good then?🙄

It wasn’t Wardy.

Plymouth have just won 3-0. Controlled the first half where they were 2-0 up. Derby pushes and pushed but couldn’t do any more than try from distance. Plymouth scored a third on the counter and saw the game through. Outstanding effort and congratulations. NATIONAL Champions. 👍🏻👍🏻

The boys’, yesterday, beat Norwich 2-1. Semi final next, game to be played on 19th April. Draw to take place on 13th. Massive well done to all involved. 👍🏻

Today, Plymouth Argyle have been drawn away vs Norwich. Quarter final tie to be played on 29th March.

A huge congratulations today to all those involved at the Plymouth Argyle Post-16 education programme based at Carn Brea. The ‘A’ team have today completed a 6-1 victory over Chelsea to take them into the quarter finals of the English Schools FA national cup competition. This is the furthest they have ever gone in this competition. The round previously was a 10-0 away win over Watford! The boys seem to be in the right frame of mind and under the experienced guidance of Jamie Day, Mike Foley and Dan Inch, and under the Captaincy of Falmouth Town’s James Swan (Swanny) - they are playing great football with a brilliant work ethic. All of these players play in Cornwall - from Combination league, St Pirans West, Peninsula league and a couple at Western League level. They are certainly doing ‘their bit’ for local football and highlighting how good these young footballers are. Bearing in mind, a lot of their opposition are/ have been on the cusp of playing academy football for larger clubs. Hopefully another home game for the quarter final and see if they can get one further and through to the semis! Well done guys on a great result and enjoyable match.

The young players haven’t been brought in at Falmouth to fill the bench. They’ve got the exact same opportunity as the ‘older’ players. If they work hard enough in training, they’ll play. They’re good enough to play 90 mins at Western League standard. There are plenty of young players about and it may have been Penryn’s philosophy in the past to not play youngsters that were, or have been, with them over the past season. Once word spreads that youngsters won’t be played they will go elsewhere. I’m not saying this is the case, just speculating. Plenty of teams too that have no budget still manage to field teams and produce squads to participate in a season long campaign.

Swanny has definitely had interest from other clubs. From Peninsula and Western league teams. No marketing ploy I’m afraid. Easy to assume when no facts are known…

Maybe an attitude adjustment needed by some of the refs appointed by those who have officiated Truro matches. As EddyD stated, some of the matches played it has been well known that even the referees were fairly vocal in their opposition to Truro joining the St Pirans league. There were and have been some pretty terrible decisions given the opposite way regarding Truro. Still, finishing fourth and two cup finals isn’t bad for a first adult season. Eddy wasn’t saying anything against the league but was making it fairly clear that there is an undertone of discontent, envy or jealousy by some of the local football followers.

Just reading the responses on here, there is a real 50-50 split of positivity/ negativity. I know a lot of the ‘boys’ who are potentially going to be playing for this team. Many of whom have represented the county, East and West Cornwall at schoolboy level. They’ve certainly done ‘their bit’ for Cornish football. They are going to surprise a few. And, contrary to some of the comments on here, none have had this dropped into their laps. They are a group of lads with genuine talent, ambition and an exceptional work ethic. They are already at a football level far higher than 75% of the football played within this county. It may not seem fair that they can go into this level before doing the perceived ‘hard work’ but it is a reality that they are already good enough to at least get a few good results at the St Pirans (step 7) level. Some have been playing 90 mins for SW Peninsula teams, already. There is NO money involved, but there is a real attempt to try to create a genuine pathway into the higher levels of the football pyramid and bring the young and talented footballers within this county to people’s attention. This is something, I believe, the new owners want to make a priority and not just pay lip service to. I’ll probably get slated by the ‘naysayers’ but for far too long, talented players are forced to go further afield to progress their football ambitions.