Falmouth Town 3; Barnstaple Town 1.
Oscar Massey 8’, 53’ Joe Hatch 46’.
Luke Barner(Pen) 87’
Att: 455.
Falmouth Town delivered a deserving win in the memory of recently passed loyal supporters Richard Crilly and Bob Fleet, in this bank Holiday match-up with long-time rivals Barnstaple Town, courtesy of a brace from the at-times unplayable Oscar Massey and a late penalty won and converted by Luke Barner, writes Scott McCormack.
There was a well-respected minute of applause for both Bob and Richard before kick-off in front of a healthy crowd of 455 supporters, including a very vocal element from the visitors, and it made for a great atmosphere throughout the game.
Given that Falmouth had only just played Willand Rovers two days earlier, manager John Fabby shuffled his strong squad again bringing in Andy Elcock, Malachi Davy, Oscar Massey, Max Cook, & Ollie Evans for Josh Bissett, Jack Webber, Ned Symons, Jack Symons and Tom Annear.
After the disappointing FA Trophy result on Saturday, Falmouth would have been very keen to open their league account with 3 points, having no doubt recognised that home form, as always, would be key to a successful season, and they started the game strongly.
Only four minutes in, eventual man of the match Oscar Massey was put through with only the last defender to beat, but with Ollie Evans in support, he opted to go for goal and saw his shot blocked. However, 4 minutes later he made amends. Captain Jared Sims played a searching through ball between the two Barnstaple centre halves and Massey chested it forward before driving his shot low and hard inside the far post of Barnstaple keeper Oliver Saunders. 1-0 to the Town!
Evans was belying his tender years with a good performance playing in the #10 role, where he was finding some space in front of the visitors back line, but as the half wore on Barnstaple looked stronger and stronger. Falmouth survived two similar incidents when trying to beat the centre-halves on the edge of theBarnstaple area. Both times the counter-attack was on, and the second time, Jones was forced to make a save, turning striker Joe Hatch’s shot on to his far post and away to safety.
Falmouth were looking to exploit the lack of pace in the Barnstaple back-line where a motivated Massey, playing against one of his former clubs, was making some strong runs down the left side.
It was a fairly even half though, but Falmouth nearly grabbed a second in stoppage time when a forward run through the visitor’s defence from Luke Barner ended with a powerful shot that just cleared the bar.
In such a close game, it was essential that Falmouth matched their first half performance and crucially did not let Barnstaple back into the game by conceding early, but that is exactly what happened only 2 minutes after the restart. A simple and innocuous looking ball down Falmouth’s right flank was fielded by Joe Hatch and, as Jones came out to pressure the forward, Hatch lifted it over his head to make it 1-1.
Barnstaple had the momentum now, and the influential Gabby Rogers was finding some possession wide on the right, having moved from his more central first half position.
However, Falmouth took the lead again 7 minutes later after a moment of brilliance from Massey. Picking the ball up halfway in the Barnstaple half, he ran right through the defence before smashing his shot past Saunders and into the net, to the delight of the large crowd of home supporters in the Packet End.
Barnstaple then upped their game, and they missed two good chances in quick succession; a free header from between the posts followed by a snap-shot from Gabby Rogers, who fired over from the 6-yard area whist under pressure from the Falmouth defence.
John Fabby then started to use his strong bench, with Tom Annear replacing Malachi Davy on 58 minutes and then Ned Symons coming on up-front for Liam Prynn, still on the comeback trail from his early season injury. Falmouth started to get the upper hand with Massey creating chances as he looked for his hat-trick but to no avail. With 5 minutes to go, and with Massey having just been replaced by Josh Bissett, Falmouth put the game out of Barnstaple’s reach. Barner made one of his trade-mark dribbles into the box and was brought down for the penalty. With Massey no longer on the pitch, Barner got up to convert the penalty and make it 3-1 and send the F-Troop home happy.
Every game at this level is a challenge, and Saturdays FA Cup tie against Frome Town, convincingly promoted from Falmouth’s league last season and already sitting in 4th place in the Southern League Premier division, will be no different. Falmouth will need all of the 455 crowd, and more, if they are to over-turn Frome Town and make it into the next round of the FA Cup.
Falmouth Town: Morgan Jones, Andy Elcock, Malachi Davy, Bradley Leivers, Oscar Massey, Max Cook, Ollie Evans, Luke Barner, Liam Prynn, Harrison Jewell, Jared Sims(c). Subs: Jack Symons, Ned Symons, Tom Annear, Jack Webber, Josh Bissett.
Barnstaple Town: Oliver Saunders, Brodie Montague, Tommy Rogers, Alex Moyse, Adam Hill, Lee Gardiner©, Luke Mortimore, Scott Piper, Joe Hatch, Gabby Rogers, Tyler Elliott. Subs: Josh Parry, Luke Potter, River Allen, Joe Grigg, Charlie Wright.

Ref: Rowan Clarke.