Gunnislake v North Petherwin

St. Piran League

Premier Division East

Saturday 19th April 2025

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.29!

Gunnislake 6 North Petherwin 2, attendance 45

5’ 1-0

8’ 2-0

43’ 2-1

49’ 3-1

60’ 4-1

64’ 5-1

68’ 5-2

87’ 6-2

@ Butts Meadow

The Butts

Albaston

PL18 9SD

£3 Admission

No Programme.

With the game at Nanpean finishing by 12.45, it gave plenty of scope for an afternoon match, although knowing whether games had survived the weather was another thing, especially as very few of my options had up to date social media accounts. However, I’d been tipped off that Gunnislake were definitely going ahead okay, so I decided to head there. It was a drive back east of just under an hour, with the SatNav choosing a very rural route, rather than the more obvious A30, but it was traffic free, so no problem. They actually play in the middle of nowhere, south of the village of Albaston, which itself is south of Gunnislake. Entering the ground there is plenty of parking on the grass, with the changing rooms immediately to the right, where there was also a tea bar in operation. The pitch is about fifty yards away, running widthways and enclosed by wooden fencing, with plenty of advert boards and a pair of brick built dugouts on the far side. No cover, but thankfully it remained dry throughout and patches of blue sky started to appear as the game wore on.

North Petherwin had little to play for, sitting fifth in the league table, but with no chance of winning it. It was a different story for Gunnislake, as they were second from bottom (two go down), but with games in hand on the three clubs above them, know a couple of wins could be enough to see them pull clear. They got off to a flyer and were 2-0 up after just eight minutes, lobbing the ‘keeper from just inside the box for the first, before a cross from the right was blocked by a defender, but fell perfectly for a player following in to grab the second. The visitors pulled a goal back just before halftime to keep the second half interesting. A cross from the left was finished at the far post to put Gunnislake 3-1 ahead just four minutes into the second half and although the visitors hit the crossbar, Gunnislake made it 4-1 on the hour mark, rounding the ‘keeper after beating the offside trap. Within five minutes they made it 5-1, but a flicked header, from a corner on the left, saw North Petherwin get one back. They never looked like adding to it and Gunnislake rounded off the scoring, when a first time shot from the edge of the box looped over the ‘keeper to make it 6-2 with three minutes left.

Nanpean Rovers v Roche

St. Piran League

Division 1 East

Saturday 19th April 2025

Kick Off 11.00 On Time!

Nanpean Rovers 6 Roche 0, attendance 432

5’ 1-0

35’ 2-0

37’ 3-0

85’ 4-0

86’ 5-0

90’ 6-0

@ Victoria Bottoms Playing Field

Fore Street (B3279)

Nanpean

PL26 7YE

£4 Admission

£3 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.

This was the only ground I’d be visiting on the organised ‘hop weekend. Any doubt over whether the game would go ahead okay were soon put at ease by an early tweet from Nanpean that the pitch had survived the heavy rain of yesterday and that the pitch was playable. Nanpean were formed in 1901 and over the years have played in the Cornwall Combination, South Western League, East Cornwall Premier League and they’re now in the St. Piran League, where they currently sit second in Division 1 (level 2 of the league), only trailing league leaders Looe Town on goal difference, although they have played one game more. With visitors Roche sitting bottom of the table, with just one win and a draw from their 23 games so far, today was a good opportunity to not only pick up the three points, but also try and make up some of the goal difference deficit too.

It only took them five minutes to make the breakthrough and if it wasn’t for a number of saves by the Roche ‘keeper, they could have been out of sight early on. However, they didn’t score their second until ten minutes before halftime, flicking in a corner at the near post and quickly followed this with a finish into the bottom corner to see them lead 3-0 at the break. Despite creating a hatful of chances, their fourth goal didn’t arrive until five minutes from the end, but it sparked them back into life. Within a minute they scored again, with a shot from the edge of the box that gave the ‘keeper no chance, before scoring a sixth in the last minute, when what looked like a cross in from the left evaded everyone and went into the far corner of the net.

Victoria Bottoms is a cracking ground, certainly in the ‘quirky’ category, with raised viewing on three sides and a rather unique piece of cover behind one goal, with a viewing area on top of it’s roof. The pitch held up well and we had no rain at all, which was certainly a bonus. A good turnout too, although it didn’t feel quite as big as the official attendance given.