Tyler Harvey’s first half strike provided the perfect late Christmas present for a Truro City side that held on to beat West Country rivals Yeovil Town 1-0, writes Tom Howe.

The Tinners were made to work hard for their second win in three National League outings, with the Glovers throwing the proverbial kitchen sink their way in the second half but to ultimately no avail.

Truro’s backline were in inspired form, with goalkeeper Aidan Stone forced into very few – if any – saves of note. When he eventually was beaten, his crossbar came to the rescue to keep out Jacob Wannell’s powerful header,

The win could and perhaps should have been more comfortable but for the heroics of Glovers custodian Jed Ward, who made a string of admirable saves to prevent City from adding to their advantage. 

Ten places, 12 points and 141 miles separated the two sides going into the game, with the sub six hour round trip from Huish Park to The TCS making this something of a derby day. 

Yeovil are the Tinners’ nearest geographical rivals in the National League – with the 282 mile round trip between them a drop in the ocean compared to the 930 mile journey to Gateshead and back. 

Amongst the Tinners ranks, both Stone and Ryan Law were previously on the books at Yeovil themselves, as were Shaun Donnellan and Harry Kite (on loan to Weston-super-Mare). 

Lining up for the Glovers, meanwhile, was one Harvey Greenslade, who enjoyed two successful loan spells with the Tinners as a teenager back in 2023. 

During that time he helped Truro to promotion into National League South, scoring a penalty in the semi-final shootout success over Poole Town. That was prior to a dramatic 3-2 final victory against Bracknell Town, when club captain Connor Riley-Lowe struck a memorable winner in the dying embers.  

Fast forward almost 1,000 days and Riley-Lowe was one of four changes manager Askey made to a Tinners side beaten 4-0 at York City last time out. Will Dean, Yassine En-Neyah and Harvey were also back in, with Luke Jephcott, Max Kinsey and Cole Deeming reverting to the bench. Dan Rooney missed out altogether. 

Fourteenth placed Yeovil had seen a four match unbeaten run, a spell that included three straight wins, brought to an end by Truro’s final opponents of 2025 – Forest Green Rovers – last Saturday, with Robbie Savage’s charges winning 2-0 at Huish Park despite being reduced to ten men midway through the second half. 

Bottom of the table Truro, meanwhile, saw the high of their 2-0 victory over Wealdstone quickly overshadowed by a chastening 4-0 loss at Rovers’ promotion rivals York, a result that left City with just the solitary win from their previous ten outings in all competitions.

The fight back had to start somewhere however, and what better place than in front of a sold out stadium and on one of English football’s finest traditions – the bumper Boxing Day fixture list.

They could very well have been the parting words of Askey as the Tinners took to the field, with the hosts dominating the first half and pinning the visiting Glovers into their own half. Their first opportunity arrived inside the opening five minutes, as Dom Johnson-Fisher slid the ball into the box where a lurking Harvey got a shot away that struck Ward and bounced clear.

Billy Rowley’s charges were frustrated in their attempts to register any kind of meaningful possession and, when they did fashion an opportunity, found Dean, Donnellan and Tom Harrison in imperious form at the back. The pressure continued to grow and grow at the other end meanwhile, with Yassine En-Neyah’s shot spinning wide via a deflection. 

The Tinners were inches away from going ahead from the subsequent corner, with Ward getting a hand to Riley-Lowe’s header. His sheet was dirtied from the following delivery however, as Harvey stabbed City ahead from close range to score for the first time since the 2-2 draw at home to Aldershot Town on September 3rd. 

Dean and Donnellan received further plaudits for their defensive work as they kept the Glovers response at bay, while Stone was on his toes to keep out Brett McGavin’s tamely struck effort from distance and James Plant shot wide.

Law was also catching the eye and popped up down the left channel when chasing down an apparent lost cause from Dean. His persistence paid off and allowed him to play in Johnson-Fisher, whose low drive was tipped on to the post by an excellent Ward, who watched on in the minutes that followed as En-Neyah’s strike whistled narrowly wide. 

City looked to maintain their momentum into the second half but they met a different Glovers side after the break, one that enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and carved out chance after chance in their quest for an equaliser. Josh Tobin headed Plant’s cross over the bar, before the provider took matters into his own hands only to meet a towering Harrison. 

The attacking fluency of the opening stanza turned into a backs to the wall, staunch rearguard action for City who, to a man, dug in doggedly and defended wave after wave of visiting pressure. Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain cut out a swift counter attack, before Harrison met Tobin’s delivery and Stone stepped off his line to comfortably collect a corner.

Johnson-Fisher could have provided some much needed breathing space but, having peeled away at the back post, couldn’t quite make the connection necessary to beat Ward. His opposite number was called back into action in the next attack but only to meet a speculative cross and to watch substitute Aaron Jarvis’ daisycutter arrow past the post. 

It was all hands to the pump as the Glovers huffed and puffed but blow the City house down they didn’t as 11 warriors adorned in black and red more than earned their Boxing Day bubble and squeak.

In fact, it was the Tinners who came closest to adding to their tally when En-Neyah brought an outstanding fingertip save out of Ward with a half-volley from 20 yards. There was one final chance for the Glovers however, and it fell to skipper Wannell, who took it upon himself to lead from the front and rise above a sea of bodies to head a corner on to Stone’s crossbar. 

That was as close as the visitors came, as four minutes of additional time were marshalled professionally, with only a Jarvis free kick into the side netting to speak of for a Glovers side kept largely at arm’s length. 

Match Facts

Tinners: Stone, Riley-Lowe (capt), Dean, Harrison, En-Neyah, Harvey, Johnson-Fisher, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hasani, Law, Donnellan; Subs Not Used: Lavercombe, Bell, Palfrey, Jephcott, Kinsey, Marsh, Deeming

Yeovil Town: Ward, Cousin-Dawson, Wannell (capt), Tobin (Jarvis, 65), McCormick, Daly, McGavin, Plant (Oluwabori, 69), Efete, Ferguson, Campbell (Greenslade, 65); Subs Not Used: Gould, Ellison, Sims, Jollife

Referee: Ross Martin

Attendance: 3,148