Ian Pethick

Buckland have always been seen as a "nice club, run by nice people and a nice place to visit", is it a conscious decision from management to make them a bit less "nice" on the pitch?

Just north of Bude I think...😁

How's that track up to Trungle Parc looking now? I know that work had started to improve and change the approach to the ground.

Cheers Phil. Well done to the FA (again). Surely, dates should have been set for these games as part of the season's fixture list? Would think that clubs would want to get these games played quickly, in the week after the regular season ends would be ideal (as per the promotion play offs). Doesn't suit anybody for it to drag on.

Sounds like it is not clear who Saltash will be up against in their promotion/relegation play off and when, but would assume it will be Bideford (no idea if it is other two legs, or who gets home advantage).

A lot of things for Cornish football to deal with currently (especially at grass roots level), but come August it could potentially have one club at step 2, two playing at step 4 and 5 at step 5. Something to celebrate.

We lost Porthleven from the Peninsula League in 2021/22 and Godolphin disbanded completely in 2022/23. Does anybody else fear that Callington could be next?

Realistically, he was only biding his time at Blazey. Step 3 player, they should appreciate the season they had from him at Blaise Park.

Not going to name them (I cheated and looked on FCHD 🙄), was surprised by how few it was though.

Not sure, they don't appear in either the Western or Hellenic projections. Gather that Brislington feature many of the former Bitton players, so there thoughts on making the trips down to South Devon and Cornwall may be interesting.

Close, by I would still judge River Allen to be the winner (St Blazey and St Blazey Res are technically one club).

Five clubs, five leagues in one season. Can anybody better that? 😀

Yes, there is extra traveling, but wouldn't say it is outrageous. Projections for the composition of the Western League Prem in 2023/24 taken from non league matters.co.uk (admittedly, positions and relegation/promotion issues based on the season ending today) have 10 of the 20 clubs being from Devon and Cornwall. They have Keynsham as joining the migration to the Hellenic. Yes, it is a commitment, but the clubs that have gone up seem to have embraced it. Projected clubs as below; 1 Ashton & Backwell United BS48 3HQ WNP 2 Barnstaple Town EX31 1JQ WNP 3 Bridgwater United TA6 4TZ WNP 4 Buckland Athletic TQ12 5JU WNP 5 Clevedon Town BS21 6TG WNP 6 Falmouth Town TR11 4PB WNP 7 Helston Athletic TR13 8PJ WNP 8 Ilfracombe Town EX34 8AB WNP 9 Millbrook AFC PL10 1FE WNP 10 Shepton Mallet BA4 5XN WNP 11 Sherborne Town DT9 5NS WNP 12 Street BA16 0TA WNP 13 Torpoint Athletic PL11 2RE WNP 14 Wellington AFC TA21 8NE WNP 15 Welton Rovers BA3 2QD WNP 16 Willand Rovers EX15 2RG SLS 17 Nailsea & Tickenham BS48 2AS WN1 18 Wells City BA5 1TU WN1 19 St. Blazey PL24 2ND SWW 20 Brixham TQ5 9UE SWE

Liskeard thumped Bodmin 9-0 a few weeks ago, but we're not debating whether Bodmin should be playing at step 6 level. Good point though about fitting the games in, it is a sad fact that the Cornwall Senior Cup is about the only county cup competition that is given much importance these days. Also, the Southern League Cup hasn't been competed for since COVID, believe it was decided that it couldn't be fitted in to the season any longer. Doubt the clubs were that bothered.

After Falmouth last season , great to have another one of Cornwall's big clubs winning silverware again. It's been a long road back.

The failed Western League/Peninsula League merger would have been good for them. Given how he keeps them competitive in this league with the resources he has, Macca Brown would be one of my candidates for Cornish Football Manager Of The Year. They do have a lot of youngsters intheir side (know that one of their coaches has links to the Plymouth Argyle youth set up), so that is the direction they have gone down player wise. Expect that they factor in losing a few of these players that they brought into step 5 football and developed each summer. Finance wise, I have no idea how they sustain it. But looking at attendances in the Southern Prem for example, I don't know how the likes of Beaconsfield and North Leigh have kept going at that level on attendances that average below 200. They must have significant other revenue streams. Speaking to someone at Hayes last week, they spoke of how they struggle on their gates (average of just 207 this season) and that is for a team that is consistently in and around the play off placings. Just seems to be the way, some towns just have little or no interest in their club. Liskeard for example, successful side over the last few seasons, strong nucleus of local players ,pretty common consensus that they play attractive football, yet they get average gates of 130.

Heard Paul (I think) on the CS Podcast a few weeks ago, sounded to me like they were relishing the prospect of Western League football.

The Western League title race does have a habit recently of serving up final day drama. The last couple of completed seasons saw Willand, Parkway and Bitton going into the last match of 2018/19 as all being able to win it, while Tavistock and Exmouth were locked together on identical points heading into the last Saturday of the 2021/22 season.

Hopefully Saltash win at A&B tomorrow night. We would then get a dramatic last day, with the Western League trophy parked up somewhere on the A30 and ready to head either east or west.

Something that needs revisiting I would think.

Good question regarding Mousehole and Saltash. Sure it's been answered before on here, but why are Southern League sides not entered into the Senior Cup? Although, given how Paul Wotton fielded understrength sides in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy this season, I'm sure he would regard it as a nuisance.

Missed reading about the punishment at the time (been out of the country for a while). £40 and a 3 match ban, £25 and a 1 match ban. That'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget..

Couldn't agree with you with more regarding referees. The game I was at last Saturday (Hayes v Parkway) , the officials weren't great, but then again quite a few of the players were poor with some of their decision making being questionable. Guess who got more stick. I couldn't even dream of being a Peninsula League standard player, let alone a Southern Prem one and equally, I am nowhere near good enough to officiate at step 3 level (probably not at any level beyond the recreational game). Yet I, along, with many others, have this belief that we could do a better job than the officials when leaning on the railings. I left the ground thinking, yet again, why would anybody put themselves through this? It must involve a real love of the game. Just casting my mind back to the low point of the season, Bude v Blazey, and how quickly that has been forgotten. Suspect a few referees will remember it though when they're deciding whether to keep going for 2023/24.

Any match reports on here are purely someone's personal thoughts and views (always enjoy comparing the Twitter feeds from two clubs when a match is going on, sometimes makes you wonder if they are at the same game). As long as they're not offensive, you can say what you like. Personally, I always enjoy 100%'s posts about matches, while they are definitely his opinion (and others may disagree with what he says), they bring a bit of colour and personality to it.

When you have goal scorers of the calibre of Ryan Richards and Curtis Damerell, you will always have a chance. Expect it will be a summer of Torpoint fending off interest in those two players. Midfielder Jake Smith is another that I hear good things about. Seems to have grown as a player since leaving Parkway, playing regularly at a lower level has obviously been good for him.