Tonight we welcome our good friends from Truro City to Meadow Park for a National League Cup Semi Final encounter and as in any one off cup game I say “to the victor the spoils”. That said we, of course, wish the Truro City Directors, Manager, players and supporters a pleasant stay with us and a safe journey home whatever the result.
Being in the National League Cup semi final for the very first time does in my opinion carry with it a level of achievement and prestige, because having won five games out of five to get here, we know we’ve earned, through our performances, the right to contest this semi final, and tonight we will try to find a way to get ourselves into the final.
Last season’s inaugural National League Cup competition was won by Leeds United and from the start we had decided to target this competition. Why? Because we want to be the first National League Club to put its name on the Trophy, as that’s history and so we’d really like our database, season ticket holders, schools, town and wider community to come down and get behind us.
Season ticket holders are as you know free, our under 5’s are free, all other entry prices are now heavily reduced for this game and as it’s half term bring the family down and help us try to put Truro to bed. In this competition we have not segregated, we have made games free for season ticket holders and opened the club shop, the home stadium catering and the Glass House at the home end and tried to create a positive atmosphere for both home and away fans.
Everyone of you if paying on the night will, as an added incentive, also get yourself half price entry for our big FGR league game on Saturday. So not only is the cup game this evening either free or very affordable for everyone, our additional offers will also help make the entry prices for Saturday’s six pointer even more affordable and let’s be honest we all love a value for money deal.
In terms of injuries around the squad, at present we are still without some big hitters in Tom White, Callum Reynolds and possibly without Erico Souza who is just not responding to the treatment he’s receiving the way he should and that’s of course a big worry.
Over the last few weeks we’ve also had a few niggles to contend with, namely Ollie Kensdale, Lewis Richardson and Charlie O’Connell but that I suppose is all part and parcel of football at this level. In truth our squad is still very strong and tonight will give Luke the chance to utilise some players and give them a real opportunity to put down a marker for a starting position on Saturday.
Luke has spoken to me about his squad concerns and his plans for this evening and I’m glad he’s taking this competition seriously and I’m also pleased he’s giving opportunities to one or two players who have waited patiently for a start and a chance to shine.
It would possibly be remiss of me not to mention Aaron Henry’s incredible injury time, match winning free kick, a week ago tonight against Yeovil Town, that gave us a very deserved if late 3 points and in truth it was a moment of true quality and brilliance that gave us all a very nice end to the evening – so thank you Aaron.
On Saturday we then travelled to Eastleigh and in truth we battered them for most of the game, but only came away with a point, so I felt on the journey home that it was a big two points dropped. We must, though, wipe our mouths and accept that it was two very disappointing defensive mistakes that cost us on the day and move on.
Those defensive mistakes were further compounded on the day, as we missed a hatful of chances, then had a pretty good goal chalked off for offside and so we left Eastleigh licking our wounds, knowing we surrendered what should have been a big win.
On reflection though there were lots of positives, in that we played some great football at times, we dominated the game for the most part, created chances galore, we were I feel slightly more organised than them, plus Regan Booty was back bossing things in midfield, while there was also a very good debut off the bench for recent Ipswich Town loanee signing Leon Ayinde.
Anyway back to this evening’s semi final, I hope as many of you as possible will try to get yourselves down to Meadow Park and create an atmosphere for what should be a great night of cup football and who doesn’t want a National League Cup Final possibly against West Ham United to look forward to later in the season.
On Saturday within my programme notes, I’ll look to update you all on my planning application, our CIL bids, our grant bids, our third party investment, plus I’ll try and separate the spring and summer builds and all other works in between. I’ll also update you on how my partners’ support is holding up and I’ll update you on where we presently sit with HBC, EBTC, Football Foundation and Arsenal Football Club.
Trust me we in terms of giving this community great facilities I’m still on a mission. In terms of realistic football ambition, we still sit fourth in the division, we will I hope go to the play offs and we hope tonight to secure a National League Cup Final.
In terms of the bigger picture stuff off the park, I hope to announce an awful lot more to everyone shortly, as I expect to hear some good news over the next few days and if things go positively for me, then my residents, park users, high street and you supporters are going to benefit hugely.
So like I told you all a month ago, buckle in, enjoy the ride because this ride will I think be a rollercoaster this season but trust me this is the best the club has ever been and my gut feeling is that come May it’s about to get a whole lot better.
Take care.
Danny
