Falmouth Town continued their superb festive season form as they defeated Western League high-flyers Bridgwater United 4-1 at Bickland Park on Monday, writes Matt Friday of Cornwall Sports Media.
Town led after quarter of an hour courtesy of Luke Barner, only for Jack Thorne to equalise for the Robins from close range just before the half-hour mark.
Tim Nixon gave the hosts a slender half-time lead with a fine finish from outside the box before Luke Brabyn gave Town breathing space midway through the second period.
Marcello Jones came off the bench to cap off a fantastic result from the spot late on as Town earned their third win on the bounce and climbed to eighth in the table.
Andrew Westgarth’s side, who have now taken 17 of a possible 21 points in their last seven league games, led through Barner, who found the net in the 15th minute after Nixon’s deflected strike fell kindly for him inside the box.
But the Somerset outfit, who would have climbed to the Western League summit with a draw, restored parity ten minutes later when Thorne turned the ball past Zach Telling from a corner.
Town would go into the break in front, though, and it came in some style. Tom Annear’s long free-kick was recycled and found its way to Nixon on the edge of the box, who curled the ball into the far corner for his 12th of the campaign.
Bridgwater came out fighting after the turnaround but Town’s defence dealt with everything asked of them, and they could have extended their lead with Olly Walker’s header being saved by Jake Viney and James Ward’s own header striking the bar.
The home side did put daylight between themselves and their opponents thanks to another fine finish from Brabyn. The Town frontman found the goal his performance merited by turning one defender and unleashing a powerful, low strike into the far corner from the left side of the box.
And Town completed an excellent afternoon’s work a couple of minutes from time when substitute Jones was felled on the very edge of the box. A free-kick was initially given but referee Tim Burley then pointed to the spot after consulting his assistant, and Jones slotted the ball down the middle to cap off a fine first outing of 2023.
Falmouth: Telling, Swan, Kellow, Webber, Annear, Ward, Walker (Hutchison 86), Calleja-Stayne, Brabyn, Barner (Jennings 78), Nixon (Jones 74). Subs (unused): Everall, Edney.
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