Farnborough 3 - Truro City 2

An 88th minute strike from Farnborough’s Hady Ghandour condemned Truro to defeat on the road in Hampshire, writes Gareth Davies.

Twice during an entertaining clash, City had battled back from behind to draw level with goals from Farnborough’s Aaron Kuhl and Ricky Holmes, cancelled out by strikes from visiting pair Ed Palmer and Adam Porter. 

The result was tough for Paul Wotton’s side to take as their play was pleasing on the eye throughout and over the course of 90 minutes, they arguably had the better of the clear-cut chances.

Playing their first game for 11 days, City made two changes from the side which was held to a 0-0 draw at Taunton Town. Up front Tyler Harvey replaced Andrew Neal who dropped to the bench while in midfield, Ryan Kavanagh came in for Porter, who would also start the game as a substitute.

Dan Rooney returned to the matchday squad after recovering from a bout of illness while Ben Adelsbury was fit again after shaking off a groin problem.

On a slick playing surface, City were first to show their hand as an attacking force when Dan Sullivan’s strike from just outside the box was cleared off the line by the hosts.

At the other end, visiting custodian James Hamon pushed a Holmes effort wide before a Palmer piledriver forced Farnborough goalkeeper Jack Turner into action.

But just after the 20-minute mark, the Yellows pinned City back and after a last-ditch tackle from Tom Harrison denied Holmes, and Hamon kept Ollie Robinson’s bullet header out, the deadlock was broken.

Olly Pendlebury’s corner was handled in the box by Tyler Harvey and referee Lisa Benn pointed to the spot. Up stepped Kuhl to emphatically dispatch past Hamon and Farnborough were ahead.

But City responded well to falling behind and Sullivan had another strike from distance that went narrowly wide.

The equaliser finally arrived six minutes from half time when Ryan Brett’s corner wasn’t cleared and after a combination of Harvey and Harrison kept the ball alive, there was Palmer to lash home with his left foot.

And it could have been even better for City in the closing stages of the opening stanza when a brilliant team move saw Connor Riley-Lowe’s deflected shot hit the post with Ollie Bray only finding the side netting with the follow-up.

After the break, Truro’s purple patch continued and after Bray chased a lost cause, Harvey’s angled shot was saved well by Turner.

But Farnborough dug deep and took the lead again with 20 minutes left when Holmes stooped at the back post to head Jordan Norville-Williams’ cross home.

However, five minutes later, Farnborough then pressed the self-destruct button when they failed to clear their lines after Brett shot towards goal with his weaker right foot. Norville-Williams got himself into a terrible mess and Porter picked his pocket to fire into the net.

The game then petered out in the final stages, with neither side looking like they would claim all three points, but two minutes from time Ghandour had other ideas and Farnborough were victorious.