JAKE’S PLAYING CAT AND MOUSE
JAKE Ash faces a nervous wait to see whether his Mousehole side will receive a Step 5 place for the first time in their history.
The Truro City legend is no stranger to promotions having achieved five during his 11 years with the White Tigers, who he departed in 2016.
Ash took over Mousehole in June 2019, and described the setup as more professional than his experience at Truro.
“The club are really ambitious,” he told The NLP. “We have GPS tracking and a video analyst. Unfortunately some away games end up being filmed at pitch level which isn’t always helpful!
“We train twice a week which is unheard of for Step 6. Last year we had three boys living in Penzance and training full-time. They were employed by the club to coach the junior teams and train every day with my assistant coach. We have a lot of hungry, young players.
Hamstrung
“The club owns a camping facility which is basically attached to the ground. It generates a good amount of money, especially now that holidaying in this country has become big.
“The people behind the scenes are really genuine, some have been involved for 30-40 years. They want to see the club do well and invest in the infrastructure rather than just the team.
“Truro did unbelievably but it took a massive investment. The club have never said to me ‘if we go to the Western League that’s where we’re staying’ so who knows? I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Ash admitted that geographically they are hamstrung in attracting the best players – Mousehole lying approximately 10 miles east of Land’s End in Cornwall.
They were also hindered by the formulated points-pergame system, which saw his side finish behind Saltash and Helston despite leading the South West Peninsula Premier Division West by goal difference when the season was curtailed.
“We feel a bit hard done by,” said Ash. “When we heard there would be a restructure we thought we’d be in a strong position. The season before had been null and voided so we thought that data was irrelevant. We didn’t look at the two-season implication.
Successful
“It’s disappointing but we understand some clubs, not necessarily from around here, might not take up promotion so it could have a knock-on effect.
“The club would love to go up. Whatever league we end up in we’ll be looking to be successful again.
“I’ve loved it being in charge. It’s given me a massive buzz about football again and is a pleasure to be involved with Mousehole.”
Promotion would mean a place in the Western League Premier Division and plenty of lengthy away trips to Somerset, an area Ash visited just a fortnight ago as he was persuaded by best friend Andy Howard to appear for Lansdown FC in the Bath & District League.
Involvement in another side pushing for promotion proved too good to turn down for the 37-yearold. Just! He made a dream debut with a late goal in a 1-1 draw with FC Trinity in a 15-minute cameo.
“I managed to toe-poke one in and didn’t offer much else,” he laughed. “I was glad to help but I have zero desire to play any more.”