St Newlyn East came into this 2nd round tie without having kicked a ball in anger for a month. The fixture had been reversed by the CCFA following 2 weather postponements and an additional delay. On Saturday, however, the Cargoll Rd pitch was in superb condition having weathered the recent storms superbly.

A good-sized crowd were entertained with a dominant display by the Saints in the first half and this total control of the game in the opening half-hour saw chance after chance either saved or squandered. Brodie Mitchell opened the hosts’ account on 15 minutes in when he drove at the heart of the Petherwin defence to slot home after a one-two with Lucas Moses.

Newlyn thought they had doubled their lead just 5 minutes later when a Ross London header was clawed back from over the line by the visiting ‘keeper. Despite Newlyn celebrating what they felt was a clear goal the match official was unable to give the goal from his position and the opposing linesman was not up with play.

The visitors were limited to a couple of speculative shots towards half-time but the hosts were not troubled. The 2nd half started well for Newlyn – 2 minutes after the restart Moses saw his point-blank header well saved, but the continued Saints pressure culminated in a Sam Lawrence screamer of a drive from over 30 yards which the ‘keeper could not possibly stop despite getting a hand to it.

Newlyn’s lack of sharpness showed as the half progressed and Petherwin came back into the game more as the Saints started to slack off and tire. However they still only seriously troubled the home defence on a couple of occasions and Counter was solid in the home goal.

A sturdy test will certainly come this Saturday as Newlyn travel to Tintagel in the 3rd round of the Cup where they hope to emulate their clinical performance from the start of the season.

The Pheasant Inn Man of the match – Josh Dingle