Sunday, February 24

Cornwall Women’s Cup (quarter-final)

Callington Town 4

St Agnes 0

CALLINGTON Town progressed to the County Cup semi-final thanks to some clinical finishing from Gemma Farley.

On a bright afternoon and in perfect footballing conditions, Callington controlled and dominated against their lower division guests, but due to some resilient play from St Agnes it wasn’t until the 25th minute that they got the crucial opening goal. 

St Agnes were without a number of key players due to injury so probably knew they would have to defend well, have some luck and stay organised in order to keep the home side at bay, and that is exactly what they did in the first 20 minutes.

Callington forced a number of corners and on more than one occasion St Agnes blocked shot-after-shot inside the six-yard box or on the goal-line. It looked like they were not going to allow their hosts an easy passage through to the next round.

St Agnes also owed much of their steadfast display to some excellent goalkeeping. One of the saves of the match was a one-handed low diving save to deny Lucy Jones’ placed shot from creeping into the far corner.

Finally on the 25th minute Callington had the break-through, and it came in a fashion which has historically proven effective for the home side. Amy Hemingway raced by two defenders, got to the by-line and pulled a low cross back for Gemma Farley who managed to keep her shot on target and put her side in front.

Ten minutes later Town doubled their lead. It was Farley once again with the finishing touch. As the ball rattled around in the 18-yard box following a handful of blocked efforts, it was the experienced midfielder who drilled the ball into the far corner giving the keeper no chance whatsoever. 

Farley seemed to be in the mood for goals when only a minute from the restart she almost scored her hat-trick, as the keeper tipped over a curling shot that was heading straight for the top-corner. Farley was not to be denied though when just before the half-time break she fired in a great shot from 20 yards after being assisted by Adele Brown.

Half-time saw Callington make a whole host of changes with no fewer than five substitutions being made during the interval. The home side clearly wanted to ensure everyone in the match-day squad played their part. This included a debut for nimble winger Weronika Holownia.

The changes took a while to bed-in and the away side tried to capitalise, slowly finding their way into the opposition half more than they did in the first 45.

On the hour they registered their first shot on goal but it was an easy one for Sara Rowe and it was to be the home keeper’s only real threat to deal with. 

Eventually Callington settled back into some attacking rhythm and on 70 minutes Holownia grabbed her first assist for her new club, as she teed-up Farley who took a brilliant first touch inside the box, before lashing the ball under the keeper. Her fourth goal of the game takes her season tally to nine goals, as it proved to be her most clinical performance of the campaign.

The game ended with the hosts pushing for more goals but failing to find the back of the net. The most notable of the chances almost scored was an audacious overhead-kick in the box from defender Sam Burnham, but the shot flew just over the crossbar.

After the match, Callington manager Adam McPherson, said: “I knew they would defend in numbers and to their credit they stood firm for so long that you could sense our frustration creeping in before the opening goal. Once Gemma Farley put us comfortably in front though, it was about ensuring everyone in the squad got at least half a game. It’s vital where possible everyone plays their part and it was also nice for Ronnie [Weronika] to play a role in the fourth goal on what was a fairly positive debut.”

Callington are back in league action on Sunday when they welcome Wiltshire-based Ilminster to Ginsters Marsh (2pm).