CORNISH REBELLION...

My round up of football this last weekend might have to be a bit brief.   But I start by explaining the photo above which I have unashamedly `borrowed` as it demonstrates a heartening attitude by Southampton defender Jack Stephens during the 1-1 draw against the Damned United at St. Mary`s on Sunday.

Now Jack Stephens has been with the Saints for ten years, having joined from Plymouth Argyle for a £150,000 fee.  He was born just over the Tamar at Torpoint in Cornwall.   The photo shows a bit of a contretemps he had with Manchester United`s Bruno Fernandes during Sunday`s game.   Fernandes joined the Village of the Damned in January 2020 from Sporting Lisbon for a fee of £67.6million.  He is a Portuguese international with 61 appearances at various levels for his country, including 34 full internationals, whereas Jack Stevens has a smattering of Under 18s and Under 23 appearances for England.

The `coming together` arose because Stephens had (fairly) won the ball from Fernandes and passed to Che Adams to slot home Southampton`s goal.   Fernandes thought (wrongly) that he had been fouled, made a big enough fuss for the referee to book him for dissent and Stephens rightly showed his opponent what he thought of it all.  A bit of good old fashioned football laced with a touch of Cornish grit is what was needed.

Elsewhere I thought I detected dancing in the street as my neighbour`s Gillingham secured another home win by beating Morecambe 2-1;  Maidstone United travelled to Chelmsford City and also won 2-1;  Truro City made the 500-mile round trip to Walton-on-Thames but could only manage a 1-1 draw.   However, things looked a bit grim in the Highland League where Fort William travelled to Brora Rangers for their `home` fixture but were on the wrong end of an 8-0 drubbing and Brechin City`s visit to Fraserburgh also ended in a 1-0 defeat.  

Sadly, the ultimate minnows of Stoke Gabriel are already propping up the table in the South West Peninsula Premier League East.  They didn`t have a game over the weekend but I see they had a midweek fixture last Tuesday against Newton Abbot Spurs and despite their recent merger with Torbay Police, the Railwaymen succumbed to a 5-1 defeat before an expectant crowd of 67.  Could have been worse though.   

But pride of place this week must surely go to Jack Stephens, so often the fans` scapegoat for his occasional defensive lapses, but on this occasion reaching man-of-the-match status for his inspiring performance in the face of petulant provocation.   `Sir` Alex Ferguson, sitting in the hard lap of St. Mary`s luxury must have been as sick as a parrot.  I`m over the moon, to be fair.