St Newlyn East were forced to dig deep in order to overcome an enthusiastic and committed St Dennis at Cargoll Road on Saturday. In blustery conditions both sides found it difficult to produce passing football and chances were few and far between in the opening exchanges.

On 15 minutes a fine move down the right wing by Newlyn saw their full-back Aaron Thompson burst in to the penalty area and his fierce drive stung the hands of the visitors keeper but was pushed away for a corner. It took Newlyn another 7 minutes to open the scoring when find work from Martyn Probert saw him unselfishly pass to Lewis Dodd who finished smartly.

Ian Brooks in Newlyn's goal was called upon to make a save late in the half to keep the home side ahead at the interval. Strong words were needed to shake Newlyn out of their uncharacteristically lethargic and out of sorts performance. Newlyn's management team introduced Ross London, Elliot Powell and Sam Lawrence in the interval and all three had an immediate impact.

Dodd scored his second of the game on 52 minutes from London's pass that should have seen Newlyn in control but the windy conditions saw them then concede two goals inside 4 minutes and give St Dennis hope that they could leave Cargoll Road with all three points as the home side battled to play into a wind that seemed to get stronger as the game progressed.

With Harry Mugford driving Newlyn forward they started to battle back in to the game step by step and with the game seemingly heading for a draw Newlyn found the breakthrough their gritty second half display deserved as Aaron Thompson found himself again in the St Dennis box and this time he made no mistake hammering a low drive in to the bottom corner of the net on 89 minutes before being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates.

As the excellent referee Gary Cornish blew for full-time Newlyn knew that it had not been a vintage performance certainly not helped by the strong wind but grinding out results when not at their best is what is sometimes needed and they can be encouraged by their determination and resilience.

Newlyn return to Cargoll Road on Saturday when they entertain St. Mawgan, 2.30pm kick-off.

The Pheasant Inn Man-of-the-Match: Harry Mugford