THERE was no lack of drama for Helston Athletic over the weekend as the Blues traveled to Oldland Abbotonians for their Western Premier League fixture.
Helston, who currently find themselves in second place behind Falmouth Town by a single point, faced 16th-placed Oldland Abbotonians who have recorded just two wins in 11 games. The last time Helston played at the Aitchison Playing Field was in the FA Vase a few seasons ago when they left the ground empty-handed after a penalty shootout.
Things would be different this time, it seemed, as two minutes after the game kicked off, the visitors found themselves in front after Rikki Shepherd timed his run perfectly to receive a long ball from Curtis Dammerall and broke through the Oldland defence, slotting the ball passed the home side's keeper for the opener.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts as unselfish play from Dammerall saw him catch Oldland's high defensive line out yet again and put Shepherd through around the six-yard box for a tap-in just before the ten-minute mark.
Not to be discouraged too early on in the game, Oldland capitalised on a heavy touch from Helston defender Bentley and stole back possession. The hosts took their chance and grabbed a goal back with a decent finish from Mitch Dann.
Having just conceded, Helston almost gifted their hosts another after more sloppy defending, however, the Blue's back line will be relieved when the Oldland effort whistled over the bar.
What came next was an extremely dubious call for offside from the referee. Watching the replay back, you can clearly see that at least two Oldland defenders were playing Shepherd onside as he raced down the left wing only to be called back by the whistle.
After 25 minutes, a lengthy disruption stopped the game after one of the linesmen injured himself and was not able to continue officiating. However, despite whispers of the match having to be abandoned, upstepped former Helston manager Steve Massey, who had conveniently packed his boots, to take on the role for the remainder of the game.
When the first half came to a close, Helston remained in the lead with two goals to Oldland's one.
During the second half of the game, Helston took to testing Oldland's keeper on a number of occasions, with the host's man between the sticks keeping the scoreline the same until around the 75th minute when a simple ball down the middle was drilled low to the Oldland keeper's right by Sam Carter.
Five minutes later, the Blues all but secured victory when a fine curling finish from Jordan Copp beat Oldland's keeper to give the visitors a three-goal advantage.
With just under ten minutes to go, Helston were awarded a penalty after Shepherd was brought down from behind in the area. The Blue's forward then stepped up to take the spot kick and secured his hat trick by sending the keeper the wrong way.
As the full time whistle was blown the game finished Oldland Abbotonians 1 - 5 Helston Atheltic.
Helston face Millbrook away at Jenkins Park next on Saturday, October 14. Kick off at 3pm.
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