Mousehole 2 Foxhole 3

[Darin Morse]

Mousehole 2 Foxhole 3

Saturday 19th September 2009

Foxhole's recent improved form continued with a deserved first victory of the season in the Trungle Parc sunshine. The Foxes started brightly, the central midfield trio of Hazeldine, Ansell and Nicholls all impressing with their composed short passing, while home centre-half Cape immediately struggled with the muscle of Rowe, whose pass set up the hard-working Pinhammer on seven minutes only for the shot to be wayward. Following a corner, Nicholls' effort was scrambled off the line by James, but Mousehole always looked dangerous on the break, and, on 35, Wills latched on to Miller's long ball to open the scoring. Just before the interval, Tonkin's shot after a fine run was saved by Ryan Holland's legs, but a two-goal deficit would have been exceptionally tough on the visitors.

Wing, too, should have doubled the lead within seconds of the restart but he delayed his shot, and he then fired a dubiously awarded free-kick against the bar. These proved to be crucial incidents as Foxhole were to score three times in twelve minutes. On 50, Pinhammer's centre was headed home by an unmarked Rowe; four minutes later Grose's free-kick eluded everyone to roll in at the far-post before Rowe seized on Nicholls' assist to confidently beat Gendle. It could have been even better as Rowe also squandered a golden chance from Grose's cross, and Kenny saw a header well fielded, but the final quarter saw a period of inevitable home pressure which Foxhole dealt with resolutely even after losing Hazeldine to a harsh second yellow card with eighteen minutes left. Kenny and Grose were also booked for fouls on James and Ivanov respectively, but there were few scares, although Ivanov did reduce the deficit in injury time, lashing home after good work by Badcock.

Foxhole (3-5-2): Ryan Holland; Adam Holland, Dexter Lawrence, Daniel Meens; Chris Grose (sub. Richard Faircloth), Sam Kenny, Scott Ansell, Liam Nicholls (sub. Tony McKellar), Lee Hazeldine; Mark Rowe, Ross Pinhammer.

Mousehole (4-4-2): Ryan Gendle; Caz James, Ross Badcock, Toby Cape (sub. Mark Trevail), Steve Miller; Jon Tonkin, Jack Wing, Barry Prowse, Bradley Wills (sub. Perran Reynolds); Emil Ivanov, Marcus Smith (sub. James Tonkin).

Referee: Mr Kevin Knowles (Mabe Burnthouse).