Post by admin on Jan 27, 2024 20:59:22 GMT
Alfie Pavey wheels away after scoring at Truro - image by courtesy of Jon Weaver.
Truro City 1 Braintree Town 2
by David Ward
A vastly improved second half performance saw the Iron 'come home from their longest away journey of the year with deservedly all three points at Bolitho Park, Plymouth on Saturday where they had to not only overcome a quite physical home side but also playing on a rain sodden and muddy pitch which must rate as the worse playing surface in the National League South.
Currently ground sharing with Plymouth Parkway FC, the Cornish side have struggled to get games on there this season and on Saturday it was easy to see why and two hours before the kick off match referee Robert Ablitt admitted to me he was still uncertain whether to start the game because of the atrocious surface until both respective managers said they wanted it played.
It meant both sides struggled to put in any really constructive or entertaining football certainly in an evenly contested first half but the second half was different in that the Iron finally came to grips better with the conditions and had the upper hand dominating play and deservedly score two goals and they could have had more.
Nine minutes from the end the home side pulled a goal back much against the run of play so the Iron had to weather a late rally to keep their lead and every player played a vital part, none more so than the central defending duo of Joe Grimwood and Ben Tomkins who were outstanding all afternoon.
Iron boss Angelo Harrop was full of praise for the pair and also all the players who put in such a hard working shift adding: "Yes, we've played better and lost but it's getting results like this that are so vitally important and I'm delighted we held on and won.
"In the end our players were putting their bodies on the line when it mattered and I felt when we went 2-0 we were comfortable but once they got a late goal back we knew they would throw everything forward but we rightly held on," he continued. "But I always felt even in those last few frantic minutes we would keep our cool which we did even when coping with some of the referee's decisions which were so biased against us.
"Young Jayden Davis did really well coming on as a substitute and scoring what was a somewhat fortunate goal the way it ended up in the net but you have take these slices of luck when they come along," he added.
It was certainly a remarkable debut for the Crawley Town youngster coming on as a 58 minutes substitute, he was booked on 64 minutes for kicking the ball away, scored his goal 30 seconds later and then on 70 minutes jinked his way down to the left byline before crossing a low ball into the diving path of Alfie Pavey who headed the ball into the net.
"I'm glad for Alfie because he was so desperate to score on his return to the club and it showed why we were so keen to get him back on board," added Harrop. "We deserved the win though and I want to thank the 12 fans who made the 600-plus mile round day trip to the game and gave the players so much support - it shows what this club has on its doorstep."
Assistant manager John White was also full of praise for the players adding: "We knew it would really difficult to come here and try and play some football on what is a terrible playing surface.
"You have to have players who will scrap and battle for the ball on these days and they all did that magnificently and I thought our much improved second half performance laid the foundations for this victory which was so important in our efforts to move up the table," he added. "We've a game or two in hand on other clubs around us but it was crucial to get three points here in view of the playing conditions."
The Iron have no midweek game with their next match at home to Dover Athletic on Saturday, kick off 3pm.