KJM SPORT REPORT Millbrook 2 Ashton & Backwell Utd 1
- Details
- Created on Monday, 03 October 2022 15:43
- Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 October 2022 08:38
- Published on Monday, 03 October 2022 15:43
- Written by KEVIN MARRIOTT Cornwall football's touchline ace
The game looked to be heading for a draw when Toulson collected a cross from Tylor Love-Holmes, swivelled and hit a fierce shot into the net to launch wild celebrations on and off the pitch.
Sean Thomson had given Millbrook the perfect start with a superb 15th minute finish but the visitors cancelled it out 20 minutes from time.
Both teams played with 10 men for the entire second half after Millbrook’s Ryan Knight and an Ashton player were ordered off just before the break.
It ended a sequence of five straight league defeats for the Brook against Shepton Mallet (0-1), Saltash (0-1), Ilfracombe (3-5), Bridgwater (1-5) and Helston (0-3), plus a 5-2 defeat by Ivybridge in the FA Vase. And a 1-1 draw against Barnstaple.
Their last win was 2-1 away to Mousehole on August 16.
Millbrook boss Mackenzie Brown said: “It’s been a long time coming! And we left it late, but that of course is always the most exciting way to win a game, and it outlines the character we are building in the changing room, especially after such long period without so much as a point for our efforts, it feels good.
“I think we’ve been very unlucky in recent weeks; don’t get me wrong, there have been games where I have no complaints, but even going back to last Tuesday at Helston, where we lost 3-0, I felt there was nothing between the sides other than a couple of quality set pieces.
“And we didn’t get the rub of the green when we needed it, with Jake Foster’s goal wrongfully disallowed for offside at a key moment, and those things go against you when you’re in a bad run but you cannot allow yourself to be defeated and we haven’t.”
Brown went on: “Ashton and Backwell have had a terrific start and they battered us at the end of last season, so we knew it would be tough. We made an excellent start to the game, got the goal and looked in control.
“We then lost Muzza (Laurence Murray) to a nasty injury, and he was running the game for us really, linking play and building attacks, controlling the rhythm so that was a loss but it didn’t affect us too much.
“When the two players got sent off just before half-time, that altered the game really because both teams have to adapt to having 10 men and they were certainly more on the front foot chasing an equaliser but we probably still created the better chances and just needed the second goal as a cushion.
“Their striker coming on gave them an extra edge up front, but once they equalised we were able to then be on the front foot ourselves a bit more which is what we prefer.
“I said to Lee on the side as we entered the last 10 minutes that I felt there was another goal in the game as there were chances, it was end to end at times, and I was delighted to see that bravery from the lads.
“I could hear them urging each other on even in the 89th minute to go and get a winner and not settle for a point, which was brilliant considering the bad run we’ve had.
“And then in injury time we showed a brilliant moment of composure. Tylor’s cross at such a key stage was superb, you can’t underestimate that quality.
“JT is always such a threat late in games, we’ve seen it so many times in recent seasons where he’s changed games and scored late goals, he actually did it against Ashton and Backwell last season.
“It’s easy to forget he’s still only 23, he’s just part of the furniture down at JP and perhaps sometimes we expect too much of him given his age.
“He has played a number of positions to help the team as he’s developed, but in his blood he’s a striker, he’s a great finisher, especially in the penalty box.
“So it was no surprise to see him swivel and smash it in on the turn once he’d controlled Tylor’s cross and then the agony of six or seven defeats is quickly forgotten as we all lose our minds and celebrate down the sideline.”
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