After the draw was made for this round of the FA Vase I was pleased to see that it would guarantee at least one "Southern" based side in the Semi-Final with this tie although my hopes for a trip to Cornwall to watch Torpoint were dashed. After consulting the atlas, train timetables and bank account I decided to head down to Poole for the second time in the FA Vase this season. Arriving in Poole at lunchtime, Paul and I wandered into the town centre to pick up a copy of the Good Beer Guide so Paul could plan some pub visits to go with his non-league football trips. Sadly, the only "real" pubs in Poole were in the opposite direction to the ground so after aborting a food stop at Weatherspoons as it was heaving, we strolled back up to Tatnum.
On the way up to the ground we passed by a number of people with black and gold scarves and realised that the visiting team's supporters coaches must have arrived. Once we got to the ground we had a friendly welcome from the ladies at the gate and selling programmes. As the sun was out we made our way down to the far side to get a vantage point near the goal, away from the assistant's line and with the sun behind us so I could take some photographs. The ground started to fill up nicely and by 3pm there were people standing on the bank behind us as all the space around the edge of the pitch was taken. Torpoint had brought a splendid crowd up to support them with Cornish flags and even a full sized cardboard cut out (with scarf) on display. The attendance on the day was later announced as 964.
Pre-match Paul and I had debated the scoreline - Paul had gone for a 5.0 Poole win while I went for a more conservative 2.1 win based on my previous visit and their FA Vase form - all matches had been settled by the odd goal. Having seen Poole concede an early goal in that game, I speculated that Torpoint's best bet would be to try and get the early goal and try and frustrate Poole. It was still a surprise though when in the first minute, Torpoint played a ball over the top of the defence that caught the Poole defence cold. Torpoint's Carter suddenly found himself racing through on goal with a decent headstart on the defence as he was the right side of the last man to stay onside. He ran into the box before carefully placing a shot over the Poole keeper and in to the joy of the visiting supporters who were leaping around behind the goal.
While the goal had been a surprise, the response to it wasn't as Poole pressed forward in search of the equaliser. In the 5th minute a header was cleared off the line from a corner and moments later a shot flashed just wide of the post. Poole won a number of corners but couldn't get the finish they were looking for. In the 15th minute a superb dummy let a Poole player through but his shot was well tipped wide for another corner. The goalkeeper went up for the catch and almost spilt the ball before recovering.
By the 20th minute the home supporters were looking a bit anxious as chances weren't being taken. They soon had something to cheer though as a long ball was played forward and Taffy Richardson found some legs to run through the Torpoint defence to take on a long ball. He had the strength and vision to keep the defender at bay until he reached the penalty area where his advance was brought to an end by a clumsy challenge. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot for a penalty! Hubbard picked up the ball and after a short delay thrashed the ball past the keeper to equalise.
Poole continued to push forward and should have done better moments later from a corner when a shot was hit straight at the goalkeeper. Richardson was really unlucky not to score himself from an acrobatic overhead kick that bounced just wide of the post. Torpoint were restricted to the occasional counter-attack but almost made one count in the 30th minute when the ball was played into space for a player to run into at the edge of the area. Luckily for Poole their keeper was alert and got to the ball just in front of the attacker.
Poole took the lead after 32 minutes with a delightful through ball finding Sturgess. He took the ball in to the area before lifting it over the keeper and in. Both teams then missed out on good chances to score - Torpoint in the 35th minute saw a rare shot from the edge of the penalty area fly just over the bar while Poole were denied by the Torpoint keeper's legs in the 43rd minute.
The second half followed a similar pattern to start with, Poole pressing forward and Torpoint breaking upfield occasionally. The Torpoint keeper was kept busy but he was proving to be very capable and this was demonstrated in the 56th minute with one of the best saves I've seen this season. Sturgess hit a screamer that was flying towards the top left hand corner but somehow the keeper flew across goal and stuck a hand out to deflect the ball onto the bar. Five minutes later and the woodwork was rattled again when Smith came off the bench and hit the bar with his first touch of the ball.
As the game progressed without Poole scoring, Torpoint had opportunities to take the game into extra time in the last ten minutes. A mazy run opened up the Poole defence but the shot that followed gave the keeper no problems. A quick free kick from a Poole offside set Torpoint away again but the Poole keeper was alert to the danger and narrowed the angle well to make the save. With time running down a cross was hit into the Poole area but it was over the onrunning player's head. Finally the referee blew the whistle and the Wessex side were through to the semi-final.
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