Hope for Truro despite horrendous season end
FOUR points over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend has left Truro City six points clear of the National League South relegation zone – with games in hand over everyone below them, but lots of football to play in a short space of time.
An excellent 3-2 win at Slough Town on Good Friday, followed by a goalless draw against Chippenham Town at Truro’s new ‘home’ ground at Gloucester City on Easter Monday, meant they rose in the table to give themselves a great chance of being in the National South for the return to the Duchy next season.
Rocky Neal scored twice at Slough with Adam Porter getting the other goal, before the 0-0 against Chippenham. But it was 2-2 at Slough until Neal set-up Porter for the winning goal, instead of going for a hattrick with a strike of his own. Truro had been 2-0 ahead before Slough fought back and thought they had earned a draw.
“Whoever scores the goals it’s irrelevant at the end of the season,” said Neal. “The points are all that matters, especially when it gets to this stage of the season.
“We have got great character, we have got it in abundance in there. You can never question the lads’ desire and their work ethic, we will always go to the end.
“We have been on the wrong end of it when we have conceded late on but today it’s a nice feeling when you get that late winner.”
It’s going to be a tough run-in for the White Tigers, though, with nine games to be played in 16 days – from Thursday when they are at ‘home’ against Hemel Hempstead Town.
On Saturday they are at home against Aveley, before they are at ‘home’ against Torquay United on Monday.
After that it is: Eastbourne Borough at home on Wednesday 10; home against Yeovil Town on Thursday 11; home against Maidstone United on Saturday 13; home against Dover Athletic on Tuesday 16; home against Weymouth on Thursday 18th; and away at Dartford on Saturday 20.
That is an extraordinary run, after a season of playing their ‘home’ games at Plymouth Parkway and then Taunton Town led to so many postponements – and considering Gloucester’s ground is 200 miles from Truro.
“You can’t make it up really, it has been an horrendous situation,” manager Paul Wotton told Sky Sports last week when the broadcasters picked up on the story of the team’s run-in.