Another draw in another weather beaten affair!

It would seem that for the second week running, a Truro City match fell foul of a weather affected contest!

For Arlesey's second home game in the week the weather was very wet and windy, but at kick off time the pitch was quite good but a little soft in places making conditions difficult.

Arlesey introduced two more new signings on the bench on Luis Medina and James Daly and rested Barry Hayles for the important games ahead over the busy Christmas period.

Truro made two changes from the match against Corby with Les Afful and Neil Slateford replacing Cody Cooke and Liam Eddy.

The game started at quite a high tempo with a long ball up from Truro being well headed back to Jack Bonham by Kevin M’Bala with a good diving header, a mazy run from Martel Powell down the wing that beat 3 defenders before he put in a cross that was cleared. Jonny McNamara looked clean through before he was brought down by a foul by Paul Kendall, as the ref dealt with the injured player first the only debate was to the colour of the card and when a yellow was eventually produced the Truro skipper must have been very relieved.

With both sides working hard the break through came in just the 9th min as a low cross in from the right by Jamie Lowry was missed by everybody in the Arlesey defence and bounced through to Les Afful at the far post, he semi controlled the ball and it went over the diving Bonham and into the net to give the visitors the break through.

Arlesey reorganised and pushed forward again as they won a corner. This was punched out by Grant Fisher as far as McNamara who went round 3 defenders in the box but his cross/shot in was blocked and cleared.

As the rain got heavier and the wind increased the conditions got steadily worse but the contingent of noisy Truro supporters kept up their singing regardless of the rain.

The play continued as Ben Watson put in a cross but it was wide of everybody and a good low shot was dealt with by Bonham at the second attempt in the slippery conditions. Arlesey countered as Powell pulled a good ball back to Christian Tavernier whose shot was blocked and cleared.

A Truro free kick found Joe Broad who turned well on the edge of the box and shot just past the post. The game settled in as both sides worked hard on the sticky pitch to find an opening, Powell fed a good ball through to McNamara but he was just offside when in a good position, and Jo N’Guessan was also fed through but Fisher was quickly out of his box to beat him to it and clear. Stuart Farrell also headed on well to feed N’Guessan in again but he tried to lob the ball over the keeper but he also beat the cross bar.

Kevin M’Bala was booked for a foul when he looked to have got the ball as he slid into a challenge which was harsh given the conditions.

Arlesey got back on even terms as a good move saw McNamara feed in the overlapping Tavernier and for the second time in a week he calmly shot past the keeper to equalise the scores after 39 minutes.

After the break Arlesey replaced Martel Powell with new signing Luis Medina. N’Guessan made a good turn and shot which brought a good save out of Fisher as he pushed it wide for a corner that Jeanmal prosper headed over the bar. Jamie Lowry also made a good turn and shot for Truro but his effort was high as the rain drove down.

Truro replaced Les Afful with Cody Cooke as the sort to attack the game and Broad made a good run into the box but he was blocked before shooting over the bar.

Luis Medina made a good run forward and found Farrell who headed down to N’Guessan but his shot was past the post, and Medina again did well to find McNamara who turned his man but the defender recovered to just get a toe to the ball and clear.

Truro countered with Slateford hitting a shot that was blocked but he got a second attempt as the ball came back to him and his 2nd shot deflected for a corner. Bonham got a punch to the ball under pressure and Prosper tried to head it out but it dropped down to Kendall who was in space and he got in a header that dropped onto the bar before being cleared.

Truro replaced Neil Slateford with Liam Eddy as Truro still tried to get forward. A good turn in the box and shot brought another good save out of Bonham and from a corner Kendall hit a good low shot that brought a good save out of Bonham.

Arlesey replaced Stuart Farrell with Hallelujah Basmel to put fresh legs up front. Medina turned well but his shot was wide.

Truro had a series of corners as they pushed forward that were eventually cleared by a good header by M’Bala as the ref relieved the pressure with a free kick for a raised boot.

With the game drawing to a close good defending in the box by Tavernier disposed Liam Eddy as he worked into the box. Then into injury time a good low long shot by Steve Tully brought a good stop from Bonham and a good cross in by McNamara was cleared as the final whistle blew.

In this game the weather was the real winner but at least the game finished and a draw was probably the right result on the day against a good looking Truro side.

Despite a well deserved draw, Truro stay in 17th place in the league table.

We can now look forward to the Boxing Day clash which is an eagerly awaited return fixture with Bideford.

Attendance 137

Arlesey Town : Jack Bonham, Andre Maltay, Luke Abraham, Christian Tavernier, Jeanmal Prosper, Kevin M’Bala, Jonny McNamara, James Hatch©, Stuart Farrell (Basmel 78), Jo N’Guessan, Martel Powell (Medina 47).
Subs:-Hallelujah Basmel, Luis Medina, James Daly, Stefan Powell, Sam Wyer.

Truro City
Grant Fisher, Steve Tully, Shane White, Paul Kendall ©, Arran Pugh, Joe Broad, Les Afful (Cooke 53), Jamie Lowry, Ben Watson, Dan Green, Neil Slateford (Eddy 72).
Subs:-Liam Eddy, Jordan Copp, Cody Cooke, Olly Brokenshire, Warren Daw.

Man of the Match - Dan Green (pictured)
Ref- Mr A Gillet

Bookings:
Arlesey Town: Kevin M’Bala

Truro City : Paul Kendall