FALMOUTH Town manager Andrew Westgarth was pleased with his side’s second-half reaction in their 5-0 win at home to Sticker on Saturday.

Although Town led 1-0 at the break thanks to David Broglino’s early penalty, a disjointed performance led to Westgarth labelling it the worst he’d seen in a long time.

But second-half strikes from Luke Barner, Luke Johnson, Tim Nixon and new signing TJ Walter ensured a comfortable victory in the end for Westgarth’s side, who are now nine points behind fifth-placed Bodmin Town in the South West Peninsula League Premier West with three games in hand.

“It was so poor first half, probably the worst I’ve seen us play in a long time,” he said. “A few things were said at half-time and all credit to the lads, they came out in the second half and they were much better.

“The bigger picture is, if someone had said to me, ‘5-0, a clean sheet, TJ scoring on his debut, Rob Wearne getting on the pitch for a nice ten minutes at the end’, I would have bitten their hand off for it.”

TJ Walter capped off his first appearance in a Falmouth Town shirt with a goal, notching the fifth from the penalty spot a few minutes from time.

The goal was his 14th of the season, having departed former club Wendron United as their top scorer with 13 in all competitions in 2019/20.

“He did well on his debut, considering,” Westgarth said. “It does take a bit time to get used to players, making the right runs and getting used to our system, but I think he could be pleased with his afternoon’s work.

“He did well, he’s got a good touch, he’s got a nice left foot on him. He’s a welcome addition.”

The sixth cheer of the afternoon was for striker Rob Wearne, who made his first appearance for more than a year when he came off the bench to replace Martyn Duff in the 78th minute.

It was Wearne’s 192nd appearance for Town, but it was only his third since the start of the 2018/19 season following two successive long-term injuries, the second of which has kept him on the sidelines since February 2019.

“It’s going to take time for Rob,” Westgarth said. “He’s been out for such a long time and it’s just getting used to the movement of football. It’s all well running on straight lines on a training pitch or an astro, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you start playing football.”

He added: “I know exactly what he’s going through, I did exactly the same. I had a really bad injury and the first milestone is always the hardest one, getting back on the pitch. I’m absolutely delighted for him and he got a nice reception when he came on, which is nice to see.”