Wimborne Town 3

Mousehole 2

Sat 11th November 2023 

Goals: Cocklin, Morgan, Beale

Att: 636

 

Saturday afternoons don’t get much better than this! Two proper football-playing teams going head-to-head, scoring five goals, great goalkeeping, defiant defending, as much penalty area action as your reporter’s fingers could cope with, in front of a 600 plus crowd, with Wimborne going back to the top of the table. And all that after an impeccably observed two minutes silence and playing of the “Last Post”. This afternoon will linger long in the memory.

 

 

Manager Tim Sills brought Lewis Beale, Harry Morgan, and Ben Scorey into his starting line-up. Referee Parsons decided that the teams’ shirts were too similar so, with the visitors not having an alternative kit with them, The Magpies played in their blue away kit.

 

It was clear from the first whistle that Mousehole, with speedy front men and willing runners from midfield, would be dangerous on the counter-attack. But it was Wimborne who had the first attempt on goal on nine minutes: Harry Morgan’s free-kick from right of the “D” beat the defensive wall but was saved by the diving Chenoweth, the first of many good saves. Four minutes later the visitors took the lead: Nixon’s run down the right wing was perfectly timed; he rounded Ross Flitney, shot towards the far post where the prolific Bray-Evans gleefully rifled the ball into the net.

 

Wimborne went looking for an equaliser: Jez Bedford tricked his way along the right by-line before pulling the ball back to Lewis Beale who shot over; another charge by Bedford was smothered by a brave defender; Connor Cocklin strode forward and gave some passing birds unexpected exercise; then played a weighted ball inside the full-back for Sam Jackson to cross. The home side did find the net on thirty-six minutes when Billy Walker was quick to react after Harry Baker’s shot was saved, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside.

 

Given the fluent approach play of both teams, it was surprising that we reached the interval with just the one goal on the scoreboard.

 

Harry Morgan had the first goal attempt of the second-half, but his free-kick from the edge of the “D” was at a comfortable height for Chenoweth. Then, on fifty minutes, came the equaliser. A trademark Oakley Hanger free-kick from five yards inside the Mousehole half, was headed down and across the goal area by Walker for Cocklin to head home.

 

 

With the crowd roaring them on, Tim’s team fancied a second. Morgan found Hanger on the overlap, but Matt Neale could only fire over the bar; Jackson sent a swinging cross in from the left; and on fifty-nine minutes, after a corner from the right had been half-cleared, Wimborne bagged that second to take the lead. Bedford crossed to the far post where Cocklin headed onto the bar for Morgan to score from the rebound.

 

The Magpies were flying! Four minutes later Beale was played through down the inside-right channel, and as he entered the penalty area he emphatically thumped the ball past the keeper and into the net. Three goals in fourteen minutes!

 

But there was still half-an-hour to play, and the visitors always looked capable of scoring again. Wimborne defended from the front where Baker rightly earned applause for his chasing and harrying; substitute Ben Satterley was everywhere in midfield; and Cocklin and Walker were in defiant mood in central defence. However, The Seagulls did grab a second on eighty-two minutes: a low cross from the right was too hot for Flitney, under pressure, to hold onto, and Turner netted the loose ball.

 

 

Play flowed from end-to-end as both sides sought another. Bray-Evans fired wide from a through ball, and Hanger blocked Lewis’s shot. And when six additional minutes were announced, the excitement intensified. Neale had an effort cleared off the line; Beale had a shot brilliantly saved; and Cocklin somehow cleared off the line at the other end. Finally, referee Parsons gave a last blast on his whistle, and we could all breath easily again.

 

Wimborne’s second-half performance was as good as I can recall this season.

 

This was a day for celebrating all that’s good about non-league football. We even had renditions of Cornish sea-shanties in the Clubhouse after the game. It doesn’t get much better than that!

 

Match stats:

Wimborne: Flitney, Hanger, Walker, Cocklin, Jackson (capt), Scorey, Bedford (Griffin 71), Neale, Morgan (Satterley 69), Beale, Baker (Lovell 85)

Unused subs: Munn, Roberts

Attendance: 636

	Magpies	Seagulls
Goal attempts on target	9	2
Goal attempts off target	8	3
Goal attempts blocked	5	1
Corners	8	1
Fouls conceded	12	5
Offside	4	5
Cards	2Y	0

Results

League Table (top)