St Newlyn East progressed to the last 16 of the Duchy Knockout cup with a draw away at Polperro on Saturday. In what was one of only 2 games in the 47-team Duchy League, the Saints produced a lacklustre performance for much of the game which was matched by their opponents – both Clubs no doubt struggling to find their top form following the Xmas festivities and intermittent recent matches.

The first half was a 50/50 affair with little openings for either side. Debuting for the Saints was new signing Lee Paxton who impressed with his control of the midfield. The best chances for the visitors fell to Ross London who hit the posts with one of his shots and Counter in the Newlyn goal was called upon several times to clear the lines.

The 2nd half saw a major improvement as both teams upped their efforts. Just after the hour mark the visitors failed to defend a soft freekick and a free header was fired in from close range to give the hosts the lead. However Newlyns change of pace was too much for Polperro and they were to capitalise on the award of a penalty just 3 minutes later after a clumsy challenge in the box – London fired home with a well-taken spotkick. At this time of the season.

Successive attacks by Newlyn resulted in the home defense making a howler of an error as an own goal ballooned into the net to give the Saints the lead. But the visitors tired, sitting on their laurels and Polperro again took advantage of sloppy defending from a setpiece as a corner resulted in a free header once again to set the score at 2-2.

The draw was enough for the Saints who now find themselves in the last 16 of both Cup competitions and a win away in the League for 2nd place – not a bad position for this point of the season! This weekend sees the Saints back in League action in a local derby against Holywell and Cubert.

THE PHEASANT INN MAN OF THE MATCH – JOSH DINGLE