Taunton VS Truro City FC: Match Report

Photo credit: Debbie Gould – Truro’s Ryan Brett battles for the ball with Taunton’s Cameron Evans at Wordsworth Drive

Match Report

by Gareth Davies, Wordsworth Drive, Tuesday

Taunton Town 0 , Truro City 0

Truro City arrested a run of three consecutive defeats with a deserved point against Taunton Town in Vanarama National League South

At a rain-lashed and windy Wordsworth Drive, substitute Tyler Harvey’s header in the second half, which City were adamant crossed the line, was the closest the visitors came to three points.

Referee, Phil Eadie, despite strong protests from City, was unmoved and the deadlock remained unbroken. And as conditions deteriorated, with time ticking down, both sides would have felt a point was about right, given the howling gale and rain that they had to contend with – Truro in the opening stanza, Taunton after the turnaround.

City boss Paul Wotton made three changes from the side that were defeated 2-1 at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday. Both Ryan Brett and Dan Sullivan, playing against their former club, were in from the start after sitting on the bench at the Beveree Stadium.

Ollie Bray, who scored with his first touch in a City shirt against the Beavers, also started with Harvey and Sam Sanders dropping to the bench. Cardiff City loanee Ryan Kavanagh missed out altogether, along with Dan Rooney, who was struck down with illness.

Meanwhile, James Melhado and Matt Buse were back in the matchday squad after they were absent from City’s last outing.

Playing with the wind, Taunton dominated possession and territory in the early exchanges and after just seven minutes, James Hamon was called into action. The Guernsey-born custodian had to be alert to keep out Rabby Tabu Minzamba’s low effort with Will Dean hacking away the follow-up.

Further chances from Cameron Evans and Ollie Chamberlain saw the hosts go close but as the half wore on, City started to assert themselves as an attacking force.

Eleven minutes before the break, Ryan Law had a sight of goal but the former Plymouth Argyle man saw his shot from distance go wide of the target. And then Andrew Neal, one of four City starters playing against his former club, got his toe to a loose ball but Dan Lavercombe in the home goal saved the pint-sized hitman’s effort, before the offside flag was raised.

Into the second period and it was a case of roles reversed with City having the lion’s share of possession without creating too many clear-cut opportunities.

Sullivan’s shot from the edge of the box flew narrowly over just shy of the hour mark and then, with 14 minutes left, City thought they had broken the deadlock.

A Dean set-piece was perfectly delivered and Harvey headed towards goal with Lavercombe saving, but there were serious doubts as to if he had prevented the ball crossing the line.

Ed Palmer was booked for his protests and with Brett down injured, there was a period of confusion where it appeared that the referee, after consulting with his assistant, might have given the goal.

But the score remained at 0-0 and as the rain fell heavier, and the pitch started to really cut up, the final minutes were largely uneventful with neither side able to force a winning goal.

City: Hamon, Riley-Lowe, Palmer, Harrison, Law, Porter, Dean, Brett, Sullivan (Buse, 72), Bray (Johnson-Fisher, 83), Neal (Harvey, 56). Subs: Melhado, Sanders.

Taunton: Lavercombe, Bell, Grimes, Ball, Chamberlain (Grubb, 83), James, Jarvis (Stearn, 73), Minzamba (Slough, 80), Smith, Evans, Dolman. Subs not used: Day, Rose.

Referee: Phil Eadie

Attendance: 489

Match Reaction from Paul Wotton

Boss Paul Wotton says his side’s 0-0 draw at Taunton Town was ‘a point gained’ as Truro City were held to a 0-0 draw in Somerset.

In difficult conditions owing to a strong wind and heavy rain, Dan Sullivan and Tyler Harvey went close for Truro in the second stanza.

During the opening 45 minutes Rabby Tabu Minizamba, Cameron Evans and Ollie Chamberlain all had genuine sights of goal as Taunton played with the wind and rain at their backs.

And despite City having the conditions in their favour after the break, they couldn’t force a winner as both sides had to be content with a share of the spoils.

“I don’t think you quite realised how bad the conditions were until you walked across the pitch at the end,” Wotton told trurocity.co.uk. “I thought in the first half, we defended really well against the rain and wind and up the little bit of a slope.

“To go in at 0-0, I was more than happy with that. They had a couple of little spells in the first half, but I thought we played out well from the back and we were brave on the ball.

“Second half, when you have the wind behind you, trying to get in the ascendency going down the hill, we never really got going. Taunton started the second half better than us, but after that, did I see us scoring? No. Did I see them scoring? No.

He added: “My players are convinced the ball is over the line from the (Tyler Harvey) header but a draw is a fair result on the night in treacherous conditions.

“The weather deteriorated big time in the second half so I think it is a point gained. The two positives are that we stopped the losing run and we have a clean sheet.

“Some of the boys are a bit down (in the dressing room) but we had to rotate the squad and it worked.

“A couple of boys got the hump but I’m not too fussed about that if I’m honest. They have to see the bigger picture and all in all, I thought it was two teams that battled away to put on a decent spectacle in difficult conditions.”