Boss Andrew Moon hailed St Blazey’s Boxing Day triumph over local rivals AFC St Austell as ‘a massive win’, writes Gareth Davies.
In front of a bumper festive crowd of 686 at Blaise Park, Moon’s troops prevailed 2-1 but were forced to play for 50 minutes against their nearest rivals, a man light.
A goal up thanks to Luke Cloke’s fine finish and seemingly in complete control, Martin Giles was sent off for a second yellow card just before the break.
From the resulting free-kick, former home favourite Neil Slateford restored parity and then just two minutes after the turnaround, Cloke squared for strike partner Liam Eddy to tap home what turned out to be the winner.
“We started the season with 10 straight wins and in recent weeks, it has been a bit disjointed with games being called off,” Moon said, speaking exclusively to Cornwall Sports Media at full time.
“Today was a typical derby game and we knew it would be a real battle to get back where we were in the autumn.
“There are times in the winter months when the conditions turn and it will be a real battle in every game. We know that we won’t be able to blow teams away and it was like that against St Austell.
“The lads really dug in and it was a massive win and a step forward in chasing Wendron who are top of the table and seemingly the team to beat.”
Moon and his joint boss Brad Richardson, who were appointed when previous incumbent Ryan Fice left Blazey in August after just three games, sacrificed attacker Rio Ward after Giles’ sending off with Lewis Russell thrust into the fray.
It was a calculated move to nullify Town’s attacking threat out wide which paid off. Moon was also full of praise for strike pair Cloke and Eddy for their work rate and link-up play for the winning goal.
“Going down to 10 men was always going to be difficult but we did well to shuffle out to our full-backs,” Moon added. “They tried to make their numerical advantage count with their full-backs but I thought we were solid.
“I didn’t think St Austell had enough shots on target to trouble us and we were good value for the three points.
“I thought in the second half our front two had a real job to do to help out defensively and they did that really well. They also linked up brilliantly for the second goal too as River found Luke Cloke who gave Liam Eddy a tap in. It was a real team goal to win the game.”
Although Moon was full of praise for his starting strikers as local bragging rights went the way of the Green and Blacks, the title hopefuls have further strengthened their attacking options with the eye-catching capture of Andy Watkins.
The 37-year-old, who won the FA Vase with Truro City in 2007, has joined Blazey from Western League outfit Mousehole with Moon hailing the desire and appetite of his recent recruit.
“Andy is a terrific player,” Moon enthused. “He’s still got love for the game and hunger at his age which is really important. At Mousehole he was finding the travel and training difficult so we gave him the opportunity at Step 6 to help us.
“He says he has some unfinished business at this level and because this club hasn’t won anything for a while, we are all trying to change that.
“But for us to win things, good players will be needed because we won’t have the same 11 players available each week. That is just football at this level but having good players in your squad will push others and by signing Andy, it’s a message to our own players and the other teams in the promotion race too.”
[Featured image: Matt Friday / Cornwall Sports Media]