Party in the Park as the Treble Derby comes to Mabe

2018-3-11 SW Shinty League Match Report Mylor Cons v Mabe SW Shinty League Mylor Cons v Mabe Cunningham Park, Mabe. 3pm throw-up Referee: George Wickenden Mylor Cons: Matt Mossop (Captain), Mike Comyn (Goals), Josh Chant, John Pullen, Richard Chave and Claire Seymour Mabe: Matt Noonan (Captain), Jamie Goodship (Goals), Paul Clarke, Toby Coker, Harley Birchley, Libby Walters. Subs: Annan Birkett This was not a fixture the Cons will ever underestimate. Not dropping a single point all season and slamming 47 goals to win the title with a squad of just 5 and a quarter of the matches still to play, one could be forgiven for expecting a win. But with four years of defeats from the brink of league victory in the very last match of the season v neighbours and five time champions Mabe, nothing was taken for granted. Despite rumours of a special charter flight from the Emerald Isle, for once it was Mabe who failed to show-up and the Cons who were out in force, even loaning their two star signings Coker and Clarke and allowing some hasty transfers to their beleaguered rivals. Focus. Four years in the making. This game all came down to focus. With both Mossop and Chant both potentially in their last game for the club, Pullen joined the squad at full centre with his eyes on the silverwear. Chave and Seymour their standard efficiency up front despite a distinctly sticky wicket as the Cornish Monsoon set in. With former Cons and Devon Keeper Goodship providing superb ball forwards, Mabe powered into the experienced Cons backline, throwing everything at them in a fantastic display of physical shinty. Noonan was superb spreading the ball so wide that Mossop struggled to clear his lines as Birchley and Walters piled on the pressure. Time and again Chant rescued the centre as Mossop botched the clearance, though time was running out for Mabe. With Pullen in characteristically pugilistic form it was only a matter of time until the Chave Seymour machine went to work on their less experienced teammates. And when Mossop finally limped clear to pitch a shot from half-way, it took a top draw Goodship reflex to deflect it inches over the bar- the Cons were coming alive. Whilst Goodship pulled off some real heroics at close quarters from Seymour and diverted some rockets from Chave the League top scorer found a way through moments later- business as usual. Mabe kept at them, but with no less than 3 Cons goals disallowed and the Cons looking increasingly confident at the back, Comyn didn’t actually touch the ball in the first half and a second Cons goal was inevitable as Seymour found her range. 2-0 half-time as Mabe’s reinforcements arrived. No-one has ever forgotten the 5 goal spree that saw Birkett single-handedly rescue a 5-4 win for Mabe over the celebrating students in the last 2 minutes of extra time last season. Such heroics wern’t to be entertained today. Birkett got just one shot at it as former flatmates Chant and Pullen tightened up the back. It was an absolute screamer blasted from 7 2018-3-11 SW Shinty League Match Report Mylor Cons v Mabe yards, Comyn palmed away without breaking sweat. But it marked a spell of renewed Mabe pressure round the Cons ‘D’, rewarded with a series of corners. A Mabe miss allowed Cons to surge forward onto Comyn’s pinpoint bye-hit at the other end. By the time it landed all 5 Cons outfield players were within meters of the Mabe goal mouth with Comyn approaching the half-way and Mabe falling back in disarray. Such relentless Cons drive could only end one way as the former Champions reeled conceding corner after corner. And in 15 minutes Mabe will long to forget there was barely a sniff of ball further than a half-hit from their goal. As the pressure came to the boil, Goodship was forced to literally drop onto the ball on the goal-line, the resultant flunked penalty was a momentary reprieve, but two more Cons goals secured the Captain’s requested clean sheet win. Hats off to Mabe who battled every inch of the pitch, never flagging for one second. Goodship was superb, thoroughly deserving player of the match. No-one expected anything less. As Devon rumbled into gear, the party started for the Cons who rebrand as Falmouth Shinty under new Captain Richard Chave. Congratulations to Richard Chave, SW Shinty League’s Top Striker (Caman D’Or) with 20 goals this season and Claire Seymour who racked up an impressive 10 as the Leagues 4th highest scorer. Congratulations also to Josh Chant SW Shinty League’s Player of the Season, we wish you every success with CSM next season. A massive thank you everyone who made this such a cracking season....really pleased the SW Shinty League finished on such a high. Maybe a couple less cracks next season? All eyes turn now to 6 Nations Shinty when Cornwall will go head to head with England, Scotland, just maybe Russia amongst other at St Andrews, Sunday 6th May. Match Result: Mylor Cons 4 (Chave 7, 29, Seymour 16, Mossop 44) Mabe 0 Player of the Match: Jamie Goodship 2018-3-11 SW Shinty League Match Report Mylor Cons v Mabe Hanaf Kernow kings. Left to right: Richard Chave, John Pullen, Matt Mossop, Toby Coker, Josh Chant, Mike Comyn and Claire Seymour If you’ld like to give one of Cornwall’s oldest sports a go, Cornwall Shinty Club would love to hear from you. We’ve got all the kit and no experience is expected, though if you’ve played hurlng, golf, hockey or rugby you’ll probably be pretty handy. We generally train on Sunday and Wednesdays in Falmouth, Penryn or Mabe, though this weekend as we may have mentioned we travel to defend our National Championship Title in Bristol, so come along and support us....check out our website or facebook page: http://cornwallshintyclub.wixsite.com/shinty www.facebook.com/Cornwallshintyclub/ and give us a shout.