Truro City’s FA Cup Journey: Connor Riley-Lowe Reflects on Tough Draws

Connor Riley-Lowe has lived enough of Truro City’s FA Cup story to know it rarely runs smooth.

The captain leads his side into a second qualifying round tie at Merthyr Town with history stacked awkwardly against them. When Truro have been at step six or below, they have only once gone beyond this stage since that landmark first-round appearance in 2017. Last season, as a National League side, they went agonisingly close again, losing on penalties to AFC Totton in the fourth qualifying round.

The pattern has grated.

“If you look back at our past four or five years, I don't think we've had easy draws, I don't think they've been in our favour at all,” Riley-Lowe told BBC Radio Cornwall before the trip to their Welsh opponents.

Plenty of those ties have come away from home, plenty against clubs higher up the pyramid. The captain feels the balls have rarely bounced kindly.

“I think we've had a lot of away draws and also we've had opposition that you could say are higher in the pyramid,” he said. “Even this draw is a real tough draw to get Merthyr away – they're a really strong team.

“No disrespect to any other teams in the competition, but there were a lot of teams that were a few leagues below and naturally you want one of them because you think that you've got the best opportunity.”

This is the reality of the FA Cup for clubs like Truro: hope, graft, and a draw that can either open a door or slam it shut.

Memories of Charlton and a club finding its feet

Riley-Lowe is one of the last links to the day Truro stepped onto the national stage. In November 2017, they travelled to then-League One Charlton Athletic in the first round – the reward for a run that had already carved their name into Cornish football history.

Noah Keats scored twice in a 2-0 win over Hampton and Richmond, a result that made Truro the first Cornish club in 48 years to reach the first round proper. That alone felt seismic. The trip to The Valley turned it into a full-blown occasion.

Current Truro striker Tyler Harvey scored in a 3-1 defeat in south London, a scoreline that only hints at how deeply the day cut into the memories of those involved.

“Other than the two promotion days, I think that was my next best day in football,” Riley-Lowe said.

Back then, Truro were still seen as outsiders, a small club punching upwards.

“I think we've got a bit more stature in the game now, but back then Truro was a real small club and not many people had heard of Truro,” he reflected. “For us to go up to Charlton back then was really big for us and it was a great day.

“We took a lot of fans and we actually did ourselves justice on the day – we were a little bit unlucky, I know Charlton made quite a few changes, but on another day we could quite easily have nicked something from that game.”

That sense of “almost” has never quite left. It fuels the desire to go back.

“It was a great day and I would absolutely love to replicate it, but again you need the draw to go well for you, don't you?” he said.

Chasing another Cup chapter

For Truro, the tie at Merthyr is not just another qualifying round. It is a chance to edge closer to those bright lights again, to swap coach journeys to step-three grounds for the possibility of a Football League stadium and TV cameras.

“We've done it before where we've had a couple of tough games and we've made it so there's no reason why we can't produce that this year, so we'll see,” Riley-Lowe added.

The captain knows the margins. He has lived the heartbreak of Totton, the roar at Charlton, the long run of awkward away draws. He also knows why the competition still grips players and fans at this level.

“The FA Cup makes heroes, doesn't it?”

On Saturday in South Wales, Truro will go looking for the next one.