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For the squad, management, and away fans from the Cornish outfit, the arduous 914-mile round trip to Gateshead proved bittersweet in the end. Their lengthy coach ride from Cornwall in the south-west travelling the length of England to the north-east region yielded one league point and a free pint or two.

The team tied their National League match two goals apiece away at Gateshead this past Saturday after holding a two-goal lead by the 54th minute, during what is becoming a season of epic train journeys and tireless road trips up and down English A roads and motorways. After goals from Dominic Johnson-Fisher and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gateshead rebounded via Adom and a 70th-minute equalizer from Nouble.

“Clubs that come down to us, most of them are flying down and staying over on the Friday, so for us to have to do it on the coach is not ideal, but because we have so many long journeys, that’s the way we have to do it.” — John Askey

Earlier in the season the club undertook a journey to face Carlisle for a 3-0 defeat that clocked up 878 miles. Due to the team's remote location, their shortest away match is against Yeovil Town, around a two-and-a-half-hour schlep via the A30 to Huish Park, a 130-mile trip each direction.

Galvanising Effect of Long Travels

On Saturday the initial 90 supporters to arrive shared a £920 bar tab, sponsored by Sky Bet, the complimentary beverage fund representing £1 for every mile travelled. Fortunately, the squad could interrupt their travel with a pause at Derby's training facility.

Even their Canadian chair, Eric Perez, accustomed to long-haul trips as he frequently flies seven hours from Toronto to London, understands the challenge facing the club he took over in 2023 with ambitions of “doing a Wrexham”.

All this time on the road has benefits too for the region's first pro football team, he believes. “I’m not going to say it’s a short journey, It's an exceptionally long distance relatively,” Perez told BBC Sport. However, it serves to strengthen our squad further – the team bonds during travel, we’re used to travelling together.”

Dedicated Supporters Endure Long Trips

A committed Truro follower, John Joyce, is resigned to long days of travelling yet stays devoted, despite the odd flight cancellation and exhausting rail journeys. He calculated the recent trip at roughly £400 in expenses and lost earnings, remarking, “During my naval career with Nato, the drive from Brussels to Cornwall was shorter than from Cornwall to Gateshead.”

As Askey said, after their Carlisle odyssey: “Truro's uniqueness as a club is that the supporters get behind the team regardless of circumstances. Last term's promotion success so it was easy to get behind the players, but from what I know the fans never even moan and they appreciate what the players have done.”