Falmouth Town 3, Cullompton Rangers 1

JORDAN Annear scored twice on his return to the Falmouth Town team to held his side towards their first league win of 2019 at home to Cullompton Rangers on Saturday.

With Plymouth Parkway without a game on Saturday, Annear was able to return to the Town side and help them towards an important three points against an in-form Cullompton side.

Tim Nixon had given Town the lead in the 16th minute before Annear netted twice in the second half, with Danny Bailey scoring a consolation from the penalty spot for the visitors five minutes from time.

Town move above Rangers and into fifth as a result of the win, closing the gap on fourth-placed St Austell ahead of their Walter C Parson League Cup quarter-final clash at the Lillywhites on Wednesday night.

Annear was not the only familiar face to return to the Falmouth squad, with fellow striker Rob Wearne named among the substitutes for the first time since suffering a cruciate ligament injury at the end of last season.

Falmouth took the lead after quarter of an hour when Annear flicked a high ball in the path of Nixon, who went around one defender before drawing Cullompton goalkeeper Adam Seedhouse-Evans and smashing into the net.

Cullompton responded well but the home defence remained untroubled, before Seedhouse-Evans was called into action to tip Nixon’s shot around the post.

The visitors’ best chance of the first half came around 12 minutes before the break, when a break from midfielder resulted in a shot flying towards goal through a crowd of bodies, with Town ‘keeper Ryan Barnes doing well to deal with the effort.

The last act of the half saw Luke Johnson, who had a lively afternoon, trying his luck from distance when he spotted Seedhouse-Evans off his line, but the goalkeeper recovered in time to keep the strike out.

Town continued to turn the screw after the break, with David Broglino’s 15-yard shot beating Seedhouse-Evans but not centre-back Simon Hill who managed to head the ball off the line.

But it was 2-0 before long with Annear picking the ball up 25 yards from goal, beating one defender and surging into the box where he drew Seedhouse-Evans and drilled a shot inside the far post.

Johnson looked to kill the game off when he cut in and fired at goal from 15 yards, but Seedhouse-Evans was again able to keep the midfielder at bay.

But the third duly arrived with 15 minutes to go when Broglino’s header was powerfully headed home by Annear from six yards.

With the game now all but over, Annear had earned himself a rest and was replaced by manager Andrew Westgarth, who was making his 150th appearance for Town.

Johnson’s efforts deserved a goal and he almost delivered with ten minutes to go when he took aim from just inside the box, but Seedhouse-Evans came out on top once again and saved well down to his right.

There was still time for Town to throw away what looked like being their first clean sheet since a 0-0 draw at Exmouth in early December, with the referee awarding a penalty after a Rangers player hit the deck with three Town men around him.

Bailey stepped up to score from the spot, but it was three welcome points for Town.

Falmouth: R Barnes, J Richards, O Moody, R Martt (D Blizzard 58), J Cooper, J Ward, M Duff, D Broglino, L Johnson, J Annear (A Westgarth 80), T Nixon (L Brabyn 63). Subs (unused): R Wearne, J Bowyer.

  • Falmouth’s next match is their Walter C Parson League Cup quarter-final tie at St Austell on Wednesday evening (kick-off 7.30pm).