THE weather has put paid to plenty of football matches in recent weeks, and while nearly 90 minutes of football was played at Godolphin Way on Wednesday night, you could argue that those in attendance still didn’t get to witness one.

What occurred was more of a mismatch between a buoyant, confident Falmouth Town and a threadbare Godolphin Atlantic side low on morale.

Eleven days had passed since Town’s last game, that famous 3-2 win at home to Longlevens in the FA Vase, and they chose to mark each of those with a goal as they cruised into the third round of the Walter C Parson League Cup.

Luke Barner tripled his tally for the club with the first four goals of the evening, while David Broglino completed the rare feat of a hat-trick of penalties.

Luke Brabyn’s two goals moved him to top of Town’s goalscoring charts for the season with 14, while half-time substitutes Jordan Annear and Sam Pickup completed the rout with one apiece.

Dom Roberts at least gave the hosts something to shout about with a well-taken consolation, but the night belonged to Town from start to finish.

We almost didn’t get a start, however, with the heavy rain across the county again threatening to postpone a fixture that had already fallen victim to the elements earlier in the season.

Sensing a chance to use the rain and mud as a bit of a leveller in proceedings, and to avoid relinquishing home advantage should the tie be rearranged a second time, Godolphin managed to pass the 4.30pm pitch inspection and get the game on.

But the game was nearly called off barely 15 minutes before kick-off when the officials noticed a large hole in one of the goalmouths. One emergency patch-up job later and the game was a goer.

One factor that could have played into Godolphin’s hands was the lack of several first-team Falmouth players, with Jack Bowyer, Matt Buchan and Tim Nixon all missing while Luke Johnson and Ryan Chinn were carrying knocks.

Bowyer and Buchan had managed 23 goals between them so far this term, but Andrew Westgarth’s side would have little trouble in replacing those goals, it turned out.

Falmouth Packet:

Luke Barner celebrates one of his four goals with team-mate Martyn Duff (left)

A couple of early chances offered a sense of what was to come, before Barner notched his first in the 11th minute with a driven shot from the centre of the box.

Barner had scored two goals for Town so far this season prior to Wednesday night, and he doubled his tally for 2019/20 within two minutes, getting on the end of Johnson’s square ball to prod in from six yards.

The winger was calling for the ball at every opportunity, undoubtedly aware that he was well in the zone, and he had his hat-trick wrapped up on 20 minutes with a shot into the top corner, before bagging his fourth on 24 minutes with a fine finish at a tight angle.

It seemed like everything the winger touched turned to goals, until his fifth was ruled out for offside, at least.

A goalless 20-minute period allowed the shell-shocked G to stem the bleeding, only for Barner to turn provider for two more goals in the final minutes of the first half. The first was a fine pass for Brabyn to score, before earning the first of Broglino’s spot-kick treble.

Half time. 6-0. Game well and truly over. Would Falmouth ease off with Saturday’s big game against local rivals Helston Athletic, or would they push for more?

A bit of both, it turned out. Westgarth acknowledged the need to rest Chinn and Johnson ahead of Saturday and swapped them for Pickup and Annear at the start of the second half.

The introduction of a striker who has scored for a table-topping side in the seventh tier of English football earlier this season when you’re 6-0 down is hardly what Godolphin would have wanted.

A third sub was made within three minutes of the restart, with Westgarth opting to instantly swap captain Joe Cooper for Ollie Moody when the centre back went down under a challenge.

The only other named sub was Westgarth himself, and while he surely must have been itching to get on and try and bag a goal, he could have been forgiven for wanting to stay in his tracksuit and jacket on a chilly night in Newquay.

Falmouth Packet:

Luke Brabyn scores his first of two goals

Town were not matching the intensity of the first half, but they were still finding space in the opposition half with remarkable ease as a demoralised Godolphin struggled to cope.

Annear saw one strike ruled out for offside but the next made it 7-0 just before the hour, but Falmouth celebrations turned to fury seven minutes later when Roberts pinched the ball off a defender and fired it into the bottom corner.

Town ‘keeper Ryan Barnes was furious at losing his clean sheet, but it was nice to see the home side at least have something to cheer.

Normal service resumed on 72 minutes with Pickup netting, before Broglino made it nine with his second penalty of the night.

The majority of the modest 40 or so in attendance were Town supporters, and those behind the goal were shouting, “We want ten,” once Brabyn had bagged his second of the night.

With 12 minutes to go, a tenth seemed inevitable, it was just a matter of who would be do the honours. Broglino drilled a volley wide before Annear smashed a shot into the side netting.

In the end it was Brabyn who sealed the deal with the goal of the night, somehow bamboozling his way through several challenges on the edge of the box before firing into the opposite corner. The versatile forward now leads Town’s scoring charts with 14 goals this season, with seven of those coming in cup games.

Godolphin’s night went from bad to worse when full-back Dan Soley picked up a second yellow for a late challenge near the touchline, and his ten team-mates shipped an 11th in the 87th minute when a foul on Barner in the box gave Broglino the chance to complete a rare hat-trick of spot kicks.

He duly did, forcing home goalkeeper Chase Wilson to pick the ball out of his net for the 11th time of the night.

Falmouth Packet:

Jordan Annear featured, and scored, as a second-half substitute for Town

The goal was quickly greeted by the sound of the referee’s full-time whistle, a slightly surprising sound given there were nearly three minutes left to play, but the hosts had certainly suffered enough.

Job done for Town, the 2018 champions were comfortably through to the third round of the League Cup, and while they may have been slightly irked to have seen the game go ahead prior to kick-off, they will be thankful it did to help ease any fixture congestion.

Next up for Town is the small matter of Saturday’s Cornwall Senior Cup third round tie at home to Helston Athletic, and while Steve Massey’s men should pose a much sterner test, an 11-goal victory is a nice way of warming up for it.