RESULTS - Saturday 27 January 2024

[Dave Deacon]

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH        
SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024             
Chippenham Town    1-0    Havant & Waterlooville
Dartford    0-1    Weymouth
Dover Athletic    1-0    Slough Town
Eastbourne Borough    2-1    Farnborough
Hampton & Richmond Borough    0-1    Chelmsford City
Hemel Hempstead Town    1-2    Welling United
St. Albans City    1-1    Yeovil Town
Taunton Town    2-2    Aveley
Truro City    1-2    Braintree Town
Weston-super-Mare    3-1    Tonbridge Angels
Worthing    4-2    Torquay United
 

[Soccer Follower]

Truro lost 1-2

[Buckland Jim]

Torquay lose 4-2 at Worthing 

[Dave Deacon]

TRURO CITY (0) 1

BRAINTREE TOWN (0) 2

Matt Friday, Bolitho Park

 

Truro City slipped to a second successive home defeat in National League South at the hands of Braintree Town.

After a goalless first 45 minutes at Bolitho Park that yielded little in the way of goalmouth action, it was Iron substitute Jayden Davis’ fortuitous strike that broke the deadlock in the 65th minute.

Angelo Harrop’s side doubled their advantage soon after through Alfie Pavey, and while Rocky Neal managed to reduce the arrears with ten minutes to play, it was not enough to spare City from back-to-back defeats for the first time since November.

The result means City remain 19th in the National League South table, while Braintree have climbed two places to 11th.

City made three changes to the side that started their most recent outing, a 4-1 defeat at home to Worthing a fortnight earlier. Sam Sanders, Dan Rooney and Ryan Law returned to the starting line-up in favour of James Melhado, Adam Porter and the injured Ben Adelsbury.

There was a place among the substitutes bench for new signing Dominic Johnson-Fisher, who joined City from Isthmian League outfit Whitehawk on Friday.

Chances were few and far between in the opening 45 minutes with Shaq Coulthirst curling narrowly wide of James Hamon’s post from the edge of the box in Braintree’s best opportunity after 12 minutes.

City also struggled to test Hamon’s counterpart Jack Sims, although he did have to be alert to claim Will Dean’s powerful effort shortly before the interval, with Neal having turned Connor Riley-Lowe’s cross narrowly wide a few minutes before.

Both sides continued to cancel each other out in the second stanza, and it took a moment of fortune to break the deadlock in the 65th minute. Aaron Blair bore down on the City goal until being dispossessed by a fine Tom Harrison tackle, which cannoned off substitute Davis’ leg and flew into the corner of Hamon’s net.

That stroke of luck gave the Iron a lift and they were celebrating a second goal only six minutes later. Davis turned provider on this occasion with his left-wing cross being met by the head of Pavey, who powered the ball home from six yards out.

City chief Paul Wotton rang the changes in response and handed a debut to new signing Johnson-Fisher, and the home side got themselves back in the game in the 81st minute.

Neal was the man to give City late hope, with the forward squeezing his shot inside the far post from a tight angle to set up a grandstand finish, but Braintree managed the remainder of the game well to take the points back to Essex.

City: Hamon, Riley-Lowe, Palmer, Sanders, Dean, Harvey, Brett (Sullivan, 73), Rooney (Johnson-Fisher, 73), Neal, Harrison, Law. Subs not used: Melhado, Porter, Buse.

Braintree: Sims, Davies, Altintop, Grimwood, Tompkins, Blackwell (Davis, 58), Payne (Miccio, 85), Blair, Coulthirst, Lambe, Pavey. Subs not used: Brothers, Roberts, Watt.

Referee: Robert Ablitt

[Ian Pethick]

Inactivity and back to back defeats have dampened things a bit, and mean that Truro are too close to the drop zone for comfort again.

Enough quality in the side to mean that relegation should be avoided, but the schedule up until the end of the season (did I hear 22 matches in 70 odd days?) is going to place a lot of demands on the squad. Sounds like Paul Wotton is working hard on getting a few reinforcements in.

 

[Tavi Fan]

4 hours ago, Ian Pethick said:

Inactivity and back to back defeats have dampened things a bit, and mean that Truro are too close to the drop zone for comfort again.

Enough quality in the side to mean that relegation should be avoided, but the schedule up until the end of the season (did I hear 22 matches in 70 odd days?) is going to place a lot of demands on the squad. Sounds like Paul Wotton is working hard on getting a few reinforcements in.

 

I’m not suggesting it’s the route they’d want to go down anyway but could they have dual registrations at step 2?

[Ian Pethick]

34 minutes ago, Tavi Fan said:

I’m not suggesting it’s the route they’d want to go down anyway but could they have dual registrations at step 2?

Don't think there's any problems from a rules and regulations standpoint, players would probably need to be non contract at their principle club though. Agree, cannot see Truro going down this route.

More likely I would have thought that we'll see loans from the Football League/National League, especially when the transfer window closes this Thursday night and clubs finalise their squads for the remainder of the season and farm out those who will probably be released in the summer.

[sportsman10]

Austen booth available by the looks of it as he left Taunton.  Refusing to play now bought out his contract. 
was a good player when I watched him at parkway. 

[Luke Gibbons]

Austen will be snapped up pretty quickly, sure something has been lined up prior to buying his contract out.

[Tavi Fan]

Back to step 3 I believe.

[GRTourist]

22 hours ago, Tavi Fan said:

I’m not suggesting it’s the route they’d want to go down anyway but could they have dual registrations at step 2?

Yeah, it was really common in the COVID season. When Step Three was cancelled, pretty much all the best Step 3/4 players in the London area ended up on Dual Reg at Step 2 clubs.

This season Mauro Vilhete actually went on Dual Reg from Step 3 Hayes & Yeading to Step 1 Southend United.

2 hours ago, sportsman10 said:

Austen booth available by the looks of it as he left Taunton.  Refusing to play now bought out his contract. 
was a good player when I watched him at parkway. 

Surely both Tiverton and Parkway will be all over this? Tbh, I think he'd improve Torquay's squad as well.

[Ian Pethick]

5 hours ago, Tavi Fan said:

Back to step 3 I believe.

 

[Both Sides of the Tamar]

On 29/01/2024 at 10:37, Ian Pethick said:

Inactivity and back to back defeats have dampened things a bit, and mean that Truro are too close to the drop zone for comfort again.

Enough quality in the side to mean that relegation should be avoided, but the schedule up until the end of the season (did I hear 22 matches in 70 odd days?) is going to place a lot of demands on the squad. Sounds like Paul Wotton is working hard on getting a few reinforcements in.

 

There is a pattern emerging in 'home games'. city struggle to break down well organised visiting teams. Away record is respectable as the White Tigers can play on the counter. I think the midfield is a bit samely and lack both pace and a playmaker. Two first class strikers in Rocky Neal and Tyler Harvey, but so few chances being created at Bolitho Park. Truro will stay up, but a rethink tactically needed?

[Soccer Follower]

Don't think Paul Wotton is capable of a tactical rethink.