For the record, the report in today's Sunday Independent of Luke McCormick's move to Oxford United was not mine, even though it had my by-line on it. I forwarded Peter Masters' statement to the Indy and one or more other journalists will have built up the rest of the story around that. This sort of thing is common practice in newspapers and I would not normally make a point of clarifying this, but I thought it best to do so this time round, given the story's sensitive nature.
Meanwhile, and as per usual for those of you who have not seen today's Indy, the Truro City column that was published in it is detailed below:
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT 03 Feb 2012:
TRURO CITY / MIKE TRUSCOTT
Whatever the final outcome of Truro City’s bid to avoid relegation, they have already done much to ensure that their pride at least will remain firmly intact.
No fewer than 13 of their 17 defeats before yesterday have been by the odd goal, and often conceded in the final minutes - as was the case in both their recent 4-3 setbacks at high-flying Welling and Salisbury.
Before yesterday’s visit to Dover Athletic, City had suffered just one defeat by a two-goal margin and two by three goals.
The one big exception was the 8-0 horror show at Maidenhead back in early September, just days after the troubled Cornish club had dropped the bombshell of going into administration.
City had actually made an encouraging start to the season, with two wins and two draws after the opening-day 2-1 defeat at Billericay.
But the deduction of ten points through administration, and then the gradual dwindling of the squad through a number of departures and the continuing transfer embargo, has ensured an uphill struggle ever since.
Player-manager Lee Hodges has repeatedly worked minor miracles in achieving inspirational performances and respectable scorelines in the face of mounting odds.
‘Our strike force and midfield would make it into any team in the league,’ he says, ‘and again and again this season we have seen the boys play really well and not deserve to lose.
‘We know all about our defensive frailties and hopefully we will be in a position to strengthen soon. We will not give up; we will continue to work hard together as a group.’
Truro’s plight has meant big opportunities for emerging young talent, notably Kieffer Moore, Ben Williams and Calron Hall.
They have become regular performers alongside another young Cornish lad who made good last season, midfielder Cody Cooke.
For all their promise and progress, however, playing week after week at this level, rather than being ‘blooded’ more gradually, has been a tall order. Ultimately, the collective lack of experience has proved a telling factor.
The lack of success has been all the more frustrating for the tight nature of Blue Square Bet South this season, with the popular view that precious little separates the top from the bottom teams in quality.
As Glenn Pennyfather, boss of promotion-chasing Chelmsford, put it: ‘Truro are a decent side who have been very unlucky this season.’
And after the recent defeat at leaders Salisbury, Hodges reflected: ‘I spoke to the Salisbury people after the match and several of them told me we were the best team they had played this season!’
City are now into another taxing programme of travelling, with trips to Dover yesterday and to Hayes & Yeading and Bath City on February 9 and 23 respectively, and a home game against Staines Town sandwiched in between on February 16.
The recently postponed visits to Sutton United and Eastleigh have been rearranged for March 12 and April 16 respectively.
Off the field, the club’s newly-formed commercial team have clocked up an early triumph with their first venture, the new player sponsorship scheme, fully subscribed within five days.
No comments:
Post a Comment