Carlsberg South West Peninsula League.
Bodmin Town versus Holsworthy.
Saturday 9th August 2008.
Bodmin Town emerged from their first league match of the season with a well earned, professional performance in atrocious conditions at Priory Park last Saturday. With alternating bursts of heavy and lighter rain throughout the afternoon and floodlights necessary for the second half, the whole scene was more reminiscent of a late November day rather than supposedly being in the height of the holiday season!
Straight from the kick-off, Bodmin took up a very offensive posture and within three minutes on the clock Karl Turner had spurned a clear heading opportunity. Although the opening to the match was somewhat marred by frequently misplaced passes, this was quite understandable given the weather conditions which created a very slippery pitch, on which, quick turns were difficult to execute with several of the players from both sides finding it difficult to remain upright.
On eight minutes, Danny O'Hagan headed rather tamely into the arms of James Gill in the Holsworthy goal following an accurately delivered free kick by Darren Gilbert. Gill was soon in the thick of the action again when his poor goal kick was picked up on the left-hand side of midfield by Mark Berry ( who was beginning his second stint with the club) and his cross found O'Hagan once again free in the area but his header flew disappointingly, for home fans, well over the crossbar.
After one of Holsworthy's increasingly busy central defenders had produced a back header perilously close to his own goal, Tom Chambers who was making his league debut for Bodmin Town, found himself with enough space in the six yard box to prod home the opening goal of the game.
At this stage of the first half, the home side were really beginning to assert constant pressure on their opponent's goal. In now, heavy torrential rain, Danny O'Hagan sent a header against the base of the Holsworthy post following a right wing cross from the increasingly dangerous Karl Turner. How Bodmin Town's faithful supporters must be delighted that Alan Carey managed to persuade Turner to continue his footballing career with last year's treble winning outfit, rather than take up the challenge of playing for Trevor Mewton at Penzance. Just to confirm his impact on the game, in the very next significant move, Turner raced onto a well weighted ball from the skipper, Darren Gilbert, but was thwarted by a timely interception, just as he was about to pull the trigger, by one of Holsworthy's defenders.
It was not until the twentieth minute that we saw the first real attempt on Bodmin's goal by the visitors when Kevin Miller dealt comfortably with a well struck twenty-five yard shot. Apart from one moment's aberration from the Bodmin stopper, his overall performance reminded everyone just how important his presence had been throughout the successful league campaign last season.
During this opening spell, Bodmin Town had enjoyed a vast territorial supremacy pushing Holsworthy deeper and deeper into their own half. Indeed, the visitors were only able to offer sporadic incursions into the home sides half as they became increasingly overrun by a dominant Bodmin midfield unit led impeccably by their captain Darren Gilbert, ably supported by the industrious Nick Campbell.
The remainder of the first half saw Bodmin press repeatedly on their opponent's penalty area. Gilbert, thoroughly enjoying himself in the heart of the action, drove in a twenty-five yard effort going further away to the goalkeeper's right-hand side.
On the half hour, Bodmin's manager, Alan Carey, made an astute tactical change by pushing Mark Berry up more alongside Danny O'Hagan and switching Turner to his more customary left-sided midfield berth and bringing Steve Ovens over to the right side.
In another break, O'Hagan, a real handful to the Holsworthy rearguard, challenged their goalkeeper near the edge of the visitor's area, won the contact but then failed to put a shot on target.
Set pieces were a constant problem to the beleaguered defence. After a number of corners, one from the right resulted in Steve Ovens stealing in to add a second goal for the home side with a close range header that left Gill in goal with absolutely no chance.
Before the close of the first half, Karl Turner put in two further efforts on goal, the second of which from thirty yards out saw Gill spilling the greasy ball but no other Bodmin player was on hand to take advantage of this error.
In the forty fourth minute we witnessed probably the best move of the half when O'Hagan controlled the ball with some aplomb down the left-hand side, held off the close attentions of a Holsworthy defender, laying the ball superbly into the path of the forward rushing Karl Turner who fully tested Gill in the Holsworthy goal from some twenty-five yards out.
By this stage one had lost count of the corners Holsworthy had conceded, and another one from Nick Campbell was extremely well handled by Gill. As half-time approached, more trickery from Steve Ovens on the right wing, during which he turned the Holsworthy full-back inside out, saw him produce an excellent cross which was met by the incoming Mark Berry who could only head straight into the goalkeeper's arms. However, during first-half injury time, another brilliant right wing cross from the ever dangerous Steve Ovens, found it's intended target, an unmarked Darren Gilbert, who headed comfortably passed Gill for Bodmin's third goal.
The second-half begun very much as the first-half had left off with Bodmin dominant in possession in ever worsening weather conditions, which added to the problems posed by an already slippery pitch. All credit to the players that they were able to serve up a match that was eminently watchable.
Now under the glistening floodlights, the lively Ovens fired in another dangerous cross which saw Berry head narrowly over the bar. The diminutive striker was very much to the fore and moments later had a long range effort just wide of the target. Coming up to the hour mark, Holsworthy were lucky not to concede another goal when, from yet another right wing cross from Karl Turner, who had again switched flanks with Steve Ovens, saw Danny O'Hagan head narrowly wide.
Bodmin were certainly coping far more ably with the conditions than their opponents as they continually pinned them back in their own half. Brilliant vision by Kevin Miller in the Bodmin goal saw him knock a long accurate crossfield ball to find Karl Turner clear on the left who, quickly anticipating Mark Berry's run into the Holsworthy penalty area to perfection, fired in a cross which subsequently resulted in a bullet-like header which found the back of their opponents net for Bodmin's fourth goal.
Bodmin never rested on their laurels and shortly afterwards, Tom Chambers's header grazed the Devon side's bar. It certainly was a characteristic of the overall play that Holsworthy conceded far too many corners and struggled to effectively deal with their delivery by this increasingly confident Bodmin outfit. This was again the case in the seventieth minute when from another Gilbert cross, Steve Ovens turned on a sixpence inside the six yard area only to see Gill make a remarkably save to somehow put the ball over his crossbar. From the resultant corner, Gilbert tested Gill once again with a fiercely struck shot that the goalkeeper did extremely well to handle so safely in the wet conditions. He came once more to his side's rescue when mark Berry was put through on goal by Darren Gilbert only to see his sharp effort well saved by the busy Gill in the Holsworthy goal. Without Gill's commendable work in the Holsworthy goal, and some less than lethal finishing from the much vaunted Bodmin attack, the scoreline could well have reflected a rout by the conclusion of the match.
Holsworthy, in these closing stages, were clearly showing signs of tiredness and some degree of dispirit, and from a loose ball in the eighty-second minute picked up by the ever present Mark Berry, he failed, with a weakly directed header, to punish such sloppy defending. A fifth goal at this point of the proceedings was the very least that Bodmin deserved.
As the game came to its close, Holsworthy may well have been reflecting on the paucity of the chances that they had created through a very one-sided match, during which Bodmin's midfield ruled the roost and set up so many chances for the front line during the entire game. Such chances will surely have to be taken with more alacrity against more demanding opponents during the forthcoming campaign. However, overall, this was a most pleasing and professional opening encounter to the new league season.
Alan Carey remarked immediately after the final whistle that his side had created twenty-five openings which clearly reflected the dominance they enjoyed against a somewhat negative Holsworthy side. From their perspective perhaps the game was best summed up by one of their loyal supporters who was heard by this reporter to say that" we didn't expect to come here and win, but at least we should have come here to show some fight!" This clearly was a reflection upon his team's poor application to the difficult task in hand during the first half where the game was well and truly put beyond their grasp by the champion's determination and winning mentality.
Notwithstanding the frustration of the away support, if this is an early indication of what may follow in the new season, Bodmin Town supporters have every cause for optimism in what is likely to be a fiercely competitive league campaign in which one could make a claim for league title aspirations for five or six teams in the Premier division. The game was full of positives for Bodmin who saw Tom Chambers make a very competent league home debut, Darren Gilbert hungry and eager to impress in the midfield well supported by the hard working and inventive play of Nick Campbell, and up front the persistence of Danny O'Hagan, Oven's pace and trickery and Berry's constant involvement all auger well for the future.
Report written by Neil Wolsey
(Joint Commercial Manager)
