Wise Guys

The Season So Far:

These two sides participate currently in Division One of the Plymouth and West Devon League. The League above is one of four feeder leagues to the Devon Football League, which in turn is a feeder to the National League System; the South West Peninsula League, to be precise. To be honest this was not my first choice of game to attend but was happy to be able to go to a game at all, given the weather that had preceded the weekend. The 3G pitch was probably the sole reason for this game going ahead so I am extremely grateful for that! Mainstone are currently top of the table so in my mind come into this Cup contest as favourites. The home side aren’t terribly far behind, in 3rd position (out of 9 teams). Mountwise’s previous game was a loss to League rivals Hooe Rovers in another of the cup competitions, but you’d have to go all the way back to October to find their next most recent defeat. The visitors have only lost one League game all season; a 5-2 home defeat to Horrabridge Rangers who currently occupy 7th position.

The Visit:

The Manadon Sports Centre shares an entrance with Plymouth Parkway of the Southern League. I visited their Bolitho Park ground back on Boxing Day 2019. Manadon looks to be a very new facility and consists of a fancy-looking pavilion which overlooks a cricket pitch, and the impressive 3G pitch on which today’s game was to be played. It hosts a number of other teams including Plymouth Argyle’s women’s team and youth sides. There is space allocated for spectators around just over half of the perimeter, but it does lack any shelter for those watching.

The opening exchanges saw Mainstone on the attack and forcing a couple of decent saves from the home keeper, Daniel Oak, including a good one-on-one block. Despite this early promise, the visitors found themselves a goal behind on 12 minutes – a quick free kick found Callum Thomas who finished impressively. Oak was called into action shortly after to prevent the equaliser from the Mainstone number 15. It was 2-0 to the home side 2 minutes later. The Mountwise forward was flagged offside (by the linesman who was also a Mainstone substitute) but the referee overruled and gave the goal. On 24 minutes the visitors hit the bar from a corner and with 5 minutes of the half remaining Oak was required to save again. In first half injury time the hosts thought they had their 3rd goal. Mainstone players stopped, expecting to be given a free kick, but Mountwise played on and scored. All hell broke loose with the away side rightfully aggrieved. Eventually the referee reversed his decision, giving an offside for some reason. This was much to the chagrin of the home players, however I believe the referee more or less reached the correct conclusion albeit in a very roundabout way. The score remained 2-0.

Mainstone Social were back in the game 7 minutes into the second half. A penalty was given for a foul in the area and was dispatched by Jay Jones. There was little else of note to report which was just as well as the heavens opened. The match was tainted somewhat by some questionable offside flags from each of the assistant referees (substitutes from either side). The match finished with a home win and Mountwise progress to the next round of the League Cup. It was a competitive game and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of football on offer.