Truro City defeat against Worthing in National League South

Truro City’s four-game winning run in National League South came to an untimely end with a defeat to Worthing on Saturday, writes Matt Friday. 

Playing at Bolitho Park for the first time in 2024, City took the lead on the half-hour via Tyler Harvey’s excellent header, only for Danny Cashman to nod in a leveller on the stroke of half-time.

The turning point arrived shortly after the break when Oliver Pearce and Cashman found the net for the Rebels within two minutes of each other.

Already facing an uphill battle to get back into the game, things went from bad to worse for City in the 78th minute when the division’s leading goalscorer Pearce tucked away Joe Felix’s cross to make sure of the points for Adam Hinshelwood’s side.

The defeat means City have slipped one place to 16th in the National League South table, albeit with games in hand on all of the teams around them. Worthing, meanwhile, climb three places to second.

City named an unchanged side from their 2-0 triumph at Dover Athletic seven days earlier, with player-assistant manager Stewart Yetton’s inclusion on the bench the only change amongst the substitutes.

The first half an hour of proceedings in Plymouth passed by largely without incident with neither goalkeeper being tested until City struck in the 29th minute.

Chances had been few and far between but a fine curling cross into the danger zone from Rocky Neal was begging to be converted, and Harvey obliged with a fine diving header past Reds custodian Josh Jeffries for his eighth of the campaign.

The goal still failed to ignite a lukewarm first half, but it seemed to stir Worthing who came close via Jack Wadham before the West Sussex side equalised in first-half stoppage-time. With half-time imminent, Felix delivered a swinging cross to the back post where Cashman was on hand to head it past James Hamon.

The second half was barely two minutes old when a groin injury took City defender Ben Adelsbury out of the game, and things got worse for Paul Wotton’s side almost immediately.

Hamon kept the visitors at bay when he pulled off a fine save to block Cashman’s first-time effort in the 52nd minute, but he was picking his ball out of the net two minutes later when a Reds attack culminated in Pearce rifling the ball into the bottom corner.

And Hamon had to do the same thing another two minutes on with Pearce turning provider, unselfishly squaring for Cashman who gleefully rolled the ball into an empty net.

That goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of City, who soon had Tom Harrison to thank when his superb covering challenge took the ball off the advancing Felix as Worthing broke through the home defence.

Will Dean in action for City (Image: Matt Friday/Truro City FC)

Any hope of a City comeback was extinguished 12 minutes from time when Felix scampered down the right flank and delivered a cross for Pearce, who made no mistake in volleying it past Hamon for his 20th of the campaign.

For a moment, Neal thought he’d quickly pulled one back when he lobbed the ball over Jeffries, but merry whistleblower Matthew Scholes deemed the City frontman to have fouled defender Joe Rye in doing so.

City substitute Dan Sullivan almost had the last word when he hooked the ball narrowly over deep into stoppage time, but it proved to be immaterial as City slipped to a first home defeat since the end of October.