The Season So Far:

The St Piran League acts as a feeder league to the South West Peninsula League. I was originally planning to visit an SWPL fixture – Liskeard Athletic v Godolphin Atlantic – but the away side had to pull out due to a Covid outbreak. So a swift rearrangement was necessary on my part and, what with my accomodation for the week being in Polperro, it made perfect sense to visit Killigarth for Polperro AFC’s second game of the season. A relatively new league, this will be only the 3rd edition of the St Piran League and will hopefully be the first season to reach a meaningful conclusion. The previous 2 falling victim to the Corona Virus. The 2020/21 season ended prematurely of course, with Polperro flying high in 2nd but with a couple of games in hand over Bude Town in 1st. Sticker Reserves, on the other hand, were languishing somewhat in 13th (out of 15).

Opening the campaign with 2 consecutive home matches, Polperro began the season last week with a convincing 7-1 victory over Millbrook Reserves (Click here for the ‘Where’s the Tea Hut’ visit to that game). Bizarrely, and I’m not quite sure why, only a handful of fixtures took place last weekend, meaning that Sticker Reserves’ first run out of the season is today. Hopefully they won’t be too daunted by the prospect of coming up against a side who won by 6 clear goals 7 days ago.

The Visit:

I’d heard, from my friends who’d been to Polperro before, that there are some steep inclines surrounding the village. Despite this I wasn’t truly prepared for the climb that I faced on the way up to Killigarth. We were staying on the other side of the small fishing village so I was lured into a false sense of security by the descent into the village before taking on the near-vertical ascent towards the home of Polperro AFC. The ground is fairly basic – as would be expected from the level on the pyramid – however a recently built clubhouse behind one goal seemed to be doing good business. Halfway along one touchline is a small covered stand with space for sitting and standing, and in one corner lie the changing facilities. Owing to the altitude and proximity to the sea, the first half would experience some on-off mist which would provide an extra challenge to the players and officials. Ten minutes into the first half a high ball was looper hopefully towards the home goal, Sticker’s Jake Edmondson broke free from his opponent and finished low into the opposite corner. One-nil to the visitors. A couple of minutes later Edmondson’s opposite number went one-on-one with the Sticker keeper. His eventual effort was wide and in fact he was flagged offside. Nearly an instant equaliser for Polperro. The home side continued to press for the goal to give parity; on 16 minutes it took a combination of goalkeeper and defender to repel a somewhat weak effort on goal. Just a few minutes later and the hard work would pay off for the home team. Polperro’s Cameron Patterson found the bottom corner from distance, but perhaps the goalkeeper could’ve done better. On the half hour mark, Polperro’s number 9 buried a header but the linesman (one provided by each team) flagged for an infringement. 5 minutes later another header, this time from Sticker’s number 12, flashed wide from all of 18 yards. With a minute or so to go, the home team took a deserved lead – Patterson again finding the back of the net with an unmarked header. Half time and the Greens had turned it around!

The 2nd half got off to an explosive start as the rain began to fall – a strong first time hit was beaten away by the visiting keeper. A poor clearance from a Sticker defender led to Polperro’s number 9 having a go with the goalie out of position but his effort just tantalisingly wide. On 72 minutes, the home side extended their lead – Jayden Gilbert receiving the ball from his strike partner and found the empty net – after some indecisive goalkeeping. 5 minutes later, the Greens got their 4th goal – a penalty given, but for what I’m not sure. Kieran Faulkner took it and gave the goalkeeper no chance; finding the bottom corner with ease. With 5 minutes remaining on the clock Polperro’s goalkeeper finally had something meaningful to do: a 25 yard shot from Sticker’s number 3 was easy enough to gather, however. 2 minutes later Polperro had their 5th goal of the day, and they were saving the best ’til last. A great, deep cross by a home substitute was met on the half volley by Faulkner whose fantastic strike flew into the opposite corner. It was a goal of real quality! Faulkner was on the hunt for his hattrick and soon tried to catch out the keeper with a lobbed free kick, but this time the goalie was able to tip it over the bar well.

So it finished 5-1 to the home team who continued their impressive start to the season. I enjoyed my first taste of Cornish football – the locals were friendly and out in force despite the somewhat un-Summery weather, while the football was of a decent quality. I look forward to returning to the extreme south west at some point in the not-too-distant-future.