Report ©Tom Besford
It will be a Mount Gould v Beer Albion final at Barnstaple Town next month in the Devon League Cup final as the Plymouth based club knocked out North Devon outfit North Molton in the semi-finals. The club, who have won every match they have played so far this season, were made to work hard for a place in the final, as a stubborn North Molton side battled hard in a real game of two halves on Wednesday evening.
A cold and wet evening at the Rec in Newton Abbot was the venue for the second semi-final in this season’s competition and the two sides knew that a place in the final against Beer Albion was up for grabs. Mount Gould came out the blocks quicker than their opponents, but the Stags defence held on before scoring a crucial equaliser in the second half. With it looking like the game would go to extra time, Gould struck late to the heartbreak of the North Devon club.
The first half wasn’t the most spectacular of matches with both sides creating few chances far and few between, but Owen Pritchard from Mount Gould started to cause a few issues amongst the North Molton back line with his bursts of pace. Shooting just wide after twelve minutes, Pritchard didn’t have to wait long to find the back of the net as just seven minutes later he was played through on goal. Escaping the offside trap with his quick burst of speed, the Mount Gould striker only had the keeper to beat and although he got his feet to it, Will Davis the North Molton keeper, could only watch as the ball was calmly slotted past him into the back of the net.
It was a first half of not much action to note and the uneventful half came to a close with the best North Molton chance of the match so far. The ball found its way to Oliver Stevens who hit a volley just wide of the target.
Whatever was said in the changing rooms at the break seemed to do the trick as the Stags came out a completely different side and they took the game to their opponents, barely letting Mount Gould cross the halfway line. The pressure from the North Devon club soon paid off and just under quarter of an hour into the half, the equaliser was scored. The Gould defence couldn’t get rid of the ball which landed at the feet of Will Tucker who hit hard and low into the bottom corner of the net.
The match had sprung to life and the tie could’ve gone either way, but it looked more likely that North Molton would add a second to their tally. Just a couple of minutes had lapsed from the equaliser when Joshua Stoneman headed goal bound from a corner, but Jenson Manning in goal for Mount Gould saved comfortably.
Mount Gould soon found themselves reduced to ten men following a sin bin, but the player disadvantage didn’t seem to bother the club and whilst a man light they almost found the back of the net on two occasions. Firstly, a shot from distance following a failed North Molton clearance before a goal mouth scramble which saw the ball somehow not cross the line.
As the sin bin period came to an end the Plymouth based club managed to take the lead with what turned out to be the winning goal following a free kick on the edge of the box. Chris Wright fired into the bottom left corner to the delight of his teammates with what turned out to be the goal that would put his side into the cup final.
There was still time for one more bit of drama in injury time at the end of the match as Mount Gould were once again reduced to ten men, this time following a straight red card. As North Molton looked to launch an attack down the right wing, Dane Hewings came flying across and took out the Stags player leaving the referee with no choice but to pull out the red card.
A real game of two halves and a spectacular season for Mount Gould who continue their 100% record in all competitions. Beer Albion awaits in the final at Barnstaple Town in just a few weeks in what should be a thrilling game.
