KJM SPORT REPORT Exmouth Town 9 Millbrook AFC 0

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Details: Created on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 06:12; Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 April 2022 06:16; Published on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 06:12; Written by KEVIN MARRIOTT Cornwall football's touchline ace

Remember the time when Millbrook kept clean sheets and scored lots of goals?

Seems a long time ago now but it was only in November and December, when a 4-0 win over Exmouth came in the middle of six successive clean sheets and an unbeaten run of 10 games.

That turned out to be the peak of Millbrook’s season and since the turn of the year it has all been a bit downhill.

On Easter Monday they reached the bottom of the mountain, nosedived into the river below and sank without trace.

Two days ahead of their possible title-deciding meeting with Tavistock at Southern Road, Kevin Hill's title chasing Exmouth set about improving their goal difference with gusto and ended with nine to add to their season’s total.

It would have been understandable if Millbrook manager Macca Brown had gone away from the game, turned his phone off for a few days, and pretended to be enjoying watching the snooker on the telly in a darkened room at home.

But Macca isn’t like that. He’s never hidden during this rollercoaster season and he’s not about to now.

He said: “We’ve had two very similar games with Exmouth this season. When we beat them 4-0 earlier in the season, they were probably wondering how they’d conceded four goals but we were incredibly clinical that day, and Exmouth took that to a different level yesterday.

“It felt like in the end every time they entered our final third the ball ended up in the back of the net. They’re a very clever side and you can see why they’re right up there.

“They are content with you having the ball and they are ready to pounce on an inevitable mistake given the pitch, and as far as a physical contest it was men against boys when that happened.

“Too many of the goals started with us in possession and then 10 seconds later it’s in the back of the net and that tells you all you need to know about our decision making and lack of quality.”

Macca said he had watched the game back the next morning - brave man indeed - and he commented: “At any given period it was competitive and you probably wouldn’t be able to tell who was winning.

“It certainly wasn’t attack versus defence with us hanging on, but then bang, we’d make a poor decision or execute a poor pass and Exmouth would explode into life.

“The first half an hour on a whole we we superb, we defended a number of corners well in the early stages and grew into the game.

“We gifted them a silly direct free kick on 20 minutes that he struck brilliantly to go one up, but we responded well and I was pleased with our performance at the half hour mark despite being 1-0 down.

“And then in a 10 minute period from minutes 30-40 we pressed self destruct and conceded four goals and that’s what the best teams are capable of.

“It was a similar story in the second half when they scored three goals in the last 10 minutes, but ultimately it doesn’t matter when they scored them, the fact is they did and that makes it very difficult to defend any parts of our performance.

“I can make the standard excuses, key players missing, the pitch, lads playing with injuries but in all honesty I don’t think they stand up to defend a scoreline like that.

“The team was good enough, we were in worst shape personnel wise when we played them at home, we prepared for the pitch, there was clear instructions going into the players throughout the game on that front, the lads with injuries were probably our best players.

“The buck always stops with the manager, I’m the face of it and I feel embarrassed and humiliated and so I should.

“I’ve been in changing rooms when scores are being checked after games, and I know that would have made a few people around the county wince or maybe even laugh, and we have to swallow that.

“There’s no other option for us other than to respond though; better teams than us have been beaten like that.

“We’ll really see how much character there is now - we were praised for it in the first half of the season with our comebacks but in all honestly some players are still living off that period of the season.

“Now is the time to see it. We have two tough but winnable games remaining and I want points on the board, 2, 4, or 6; I’m not interested in 3 because that means we’ve lost a game.

“I don’t care, I just want points.”

Millbrook's final away game of the season is at Street on Saturday, when they face a home team fresh from a surprise 3-2 win at Saltash on Monday.

A week later Brown's brook side host Brislington in their final game.

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