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TRURO City made Cornish sporting history in May 2007, becoming the first football team from the Duchy to win a national cup competition when they defeated AFC Totton 3-1 in the final of the FA Vase at Wembley Stadium.

The White Tigers’ historic run began back in September 2006, with South Western League strugglers Wadebridge Town making the trip to Treyew Road to take on the Western League First Division leaders in the Second Qualifying Round.

The teams were literally leagues apart and that showed on the pitch with Truro racing into a 5-0 lead at the break. Stewart Yetton was in red-hot form, scoring all of Truro’s first four goals before Kevin Wills fired in a fifth with around 37 minutes on the clock.

With the job well and truly done by the break, it was now a question of how many more the rampant hosts would score. Remarkably, the answer to that was none as the Bridgers regrouped and successfully soaked up the home pressure.

They even pulled back two goals, with Paul Menhinick and Paul Wolstencroft netting within a few minutes of each other, but any hopes of a remarkable comeback were wide of the mark.

Victory set up a First Round Proper tie at home to Western League Premier side Bitton United two weeks later, with City edging an even first 45 minutes and leading at the break through Jake Ash.

Bitton began to work their way back into the game after the break, but a penalty for a foul on Wills nine minutes from time, converted by Yetton, appeared to hand Truro the tie.

A late Bitton goal following a penalty box scramble made the final few minutes a nervy affair for the home side, but the full-time whistle ensured victory and another home tie against fellow Cornish club St Blazey in the Second Round Proper.

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Truro City captain Tom Smith (right) heads the ball clear against Bitton

It was billed as the biggest game so far that season in Cornish football, and not surprisingly the biggest crowd of the season saw favourites Truro squeeze through after a narrow 3-2 win.

In a clash that could have also been billed as the new top dogs in Cornwall pitted against the previous incumbents, it was the new kids on the block that landed the first blow on 21 minutes, with Ian Gosling crossing for Chris Reski to head home.

But the visitors were back on terms early in the second half thanks to Mark Vercesi’s fine 20-yard shot past Dan Stevenson, but another super set piece from Ash restored the home side’s advantage, before the same man ran 70 yards to tee up Glynn Hooper to score what was surely the winning goal.

That it proved to be, but not before Danny Bance gave the hosts a scare by firing in from a cross, but Truro had done enough to set up a Third Round Proper tie at Wessex League side Lymington.

They would be doing it without manager Newton, whose sudden departure shocked the Cornish football world.

Director of football Chris Webb said that a long-term decision had to be made in the best interest of the club and that Newton “wouldn’t commit himself beyond this and next season”.

One man who would commit himself was Liskeard Athletic player/manager Dave Leonard, who succeeded Newton and took charge of their third-round trip to Hampshire.

More than 80 City fans made the 190-mile trip to watch a cagey performance from their side, who were unable to play their normal creative football.

In the end it was a penalty that swung it Truro’s way, with Andy Watkins bundled over on 55 minutes and Yetton slamming home the spot kick to seal his 31st of the campaign and send City into the last 32.

It was back to Treyew in January as more than 750 people turned up to watch City take on tournament favourites Newcastle Benfield and rejoice as they dumped them out of the competition.

The Northern League Division One side led at the break against the run of play through Chris Law’s strike, but it was largely one-way traffic afterwards as Truro levelled through Ash before Marcus Martin turned the tie on its head, before that man Yetton’s sublime chip secured a famous victory.

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Stewart Yetton steers the ball home to send City into the semi-finals

Truro swapped home comforts for another away day in the Fifth Round, visiting Gloucestershire side Slimbridge United.

The Hellenic League side had tasted defeat just one all season, but it was all Truro in the early stages, with the visitors taking a deserved lead in the 33rd minute through Hooper.

The same man doubled the advantage early in the second half, before Yetton pounced again to ensure victory and send the Cornish club into the quarter-finals.

Truro made the trip to East Sussex knowing that victory would see them do what no Cornish side had done before – reach the semi-finals of the Vase.

Falmouth Town and Porthleven had been agonisingly close, but Leonard’s lads went one better thanks to Yetton’s 47th and most important goal of the season.

The vocal crowd of over 1,000 had to wait until the 87th minute for the only goal of the game, with Yetton prodding home from Gosling’s corner to create Cornish football history.

Truro were now two games away from an appearance at the new Wembley and standing in their way was North Western Counties League side Curzon Ashton, with City making the long trip up to the Manchester club for the first leg of their semi-final tie.

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Andy Watkins is mobbed by his teammates after scoring in the semi-final

But the trip back would have felt even longer as Michael Norton’s first-half strike was enough to give the hosts a slender 1-0 lead to take to Treyew Road for the decisive second leg.

With only one goal in it and the tie still very much in the balance, a 2,652-strong crowd packed into Treyew Road to roar their side on, and they were not disappointed.

It took 11 minutes for Watkins to open the scoring and cancel out the advantage that Curzon had brought with them, before Gosling’s super strike into the top corner put City ahead in the tie.

Curzon’s hopes suffered a setback before half-time when Kieran Delaney was shown a straight red for a foul on Joe Broad, with Yetton making it 3-1 on aggregate on the hour with a fine finish into the corner to leave the home fans dreaming of Wembley.

Steve Moore gave the visitors hope with a great strike on 69 minutes, but Truro held on to secure one of the most famous victories in Cornish football history.

But they still had one more hurdle to negotiate – the FA Vase final against AFC Totton at the new £700 million Wembley Stadium.

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Joe Broad (third from right) scores Truro's third goal in the final at Wembley

Thousands of Cornishmen and women descended on the English capital via road, rail and tube to form part of a record-breaking crowd of 27,754 and witness Truro City become the first Cornish club to win the FA Vase.

Hampshire side Totton were first to settle in the shiny new national stadium and led on the half-hour when Danny Potter lashed the ball into the roof of the net following a goalmouth scramble.

But City regrouped and were on terms a minute before the break, with a fast counter resulting in Wills drilling the ball inside the near post from the edge of the box.

The half-time break gave the south coast side their own opportunity to regroup and they were the better side early in the second half, but were made to rue missed chances when Wills scored his and his side’s second on the hour, sweeping the ball into the corner of the net.

With City in front the tempo went up and were looking the likelier to grab the next goal, which eventually arrived six minutes from time. Watkins slipped the ball to Joe Broad, who was the coolest man in the stadium as he drilled the ball in from 12 yards to secure the most famous victory for Cornish football.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” said a jubilant Leonard after the game. “It’s fantastic, just look at it. What an emotional day. As humans we wear our emotions on our sleeve and this is fantastic for Truro City and Cornwall.

“You look around here, there’s 15,000 to 20,000 Truro supporters who have come to Wembley and we have put on a show for them. This is a match they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

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Truro City captain Tom Smith lifts the FA Vase

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The people of Truro come out to celebrate the team's triumphant return

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The Truro City players celebrate on the Wembley turf