Cornish Blues

Marazion  1  Mullion  0

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Like most people, our holiday plans went royally tits up thanks to Covid 19.

The Easter break to Cornwall was the first to go, and with it went a large number of matches I’d got lined up at places like Mousehole, Marjon and indeed Truro. While the Summer all-inclusive shindig to Menorca, while touch and go for a period, finally bit the dust with a couple of weeks to spare, thankfully. No football matches were harmed by the latter cancellation I might add…..

But, we took a punt on the fact that the holiday to Cornwall could be resurrected in August, and maybe, just maybe the pubs would be open and football would have started.

Yep, the pubs were open, but, the football was a bit of a mess. Some games we couldn’t attend due to restrictions laid down by the FA and DCMS, whereas some we could go to because they were at a suitable low level. Other clubs seemed to go underground and never actually said whether they were playing or not, so to be fair, I’d resigned myself to the fact that if we dropped lucky we might just get a game on the Saturday when we travelled down, otherwise, the pickings were pretty much non-existant.

I’d got my eye on Marazion v Mullion, I’d been following the home club on Facebook and they’d been advertising their games were fine to attend as long as you completed the paperwork and had your temperature taken upon arrival. However, as the game we were looking to go to was against a Step 7 side, in theory we weren’t allowed to attend, but, they advertised it was fine subject to the usual stuff and all that, so off we went. On that, the chances of the authorities punishing Marazion, even though they admitted themselves it was a park and they couldn’t really stop anyone turning up? Nil I would say!

Setting off at 6am from Casa Hatt, we were pulling into the car park for St Michaels Mount just before Noon, the only traffic issue being a diversion around the edges of Truro due to a problem on the dual carriageway that runs down past Redruth towards Hayle and Penzance.

The weather was scorching, and soon we were sat on the beach, which gave me the chance of a brief period of shut-eye before we set off back in the car through the busy streets of Marazion and up to the football ground.

Marazion is a very pretty coastal village on the Southern Cornwall coast, and of course it goes without saying that much of the tourism is linked to the fact that you can walk over the causeway to St Michael’s Mount at set times of the day, on the days it’s open of course. (we were to end up doing this the following Wednesday, when the weather was not quite so good!)

Parking is very limited so all roads lead to the main car park at £4 a chuck so someone is making plenty of cash, however, parking was plentiful at the football ground, you just drove through the main gate and parked on the grass behind the goal.

The ground is pleasant but basic. Some relatively new portakabin style dressing rooms sit on one side, although the players changed pitch side for the game. On the half way line is a tea bar, while dug outs sit on opposite sides of the pitch. The pitch is fully railed, but there is no cover for spectators. It is located at the top of the hill so on a nice clear day you do get excellent view of the castle and such like on the island.

Marazion FC were once known as Marazion Blues, in fact the clubhouse which sits over the road, albeit wasn’t open today, has the name as such over the door. The Blues joined the Cornwall Combination League in 1962 where they remained until in 2004 when they finished bottom of the table.

The clubs most successful spell came in the late Seventies when they won the title twice and gained a runners up spot, along with two third placed finishes, all in a successive five year period.   

The club re-formed as Marazion FC and returned to the Combo (as it’s known locally) at the start of the last season, and at the point when the season was cut short they sat just below half way. The visitors were Mullion from the Lizard, who had been a Combo side before being elevated at the start of the last campaign to the Step 7 St Pirans League.

In terms of the game, well it certainly wasn’t played like a pre-season friendly! Marazion lost a couple of players early doors through injury and battled through to half time to keep the scores goalless.

The hosts won a second half penalty that Adam Caul converted, but then it was about determination and organisation to keep the visitors out. The game got lively and both sides had a player red carded for a bad challenge and the subsequent retaliation, but in fairness the Marazion gaffer intervened and suggested that both players be given a ten minute sin bin to cool down. The referee called both managers together and common sense prevailed.

Marazion had to hang on in the end, and you could see at the final whistle just how much it meant to them to get a victory over higher ranked opponents.

The modest sprinkling a spectators on a sweltering afternoon had been treated to an entertaining game of football, courtesy of two sides who both clearly wanted a victory. I do love my Cornish football, it’s just a shame this time that I can’t get any more in on our weeks holiday.