Penryn Athletic are into the quarter-finals of the Cornwall Senior Cup after they survived a spirited second-half fightback from Polperro.

Penryn, who have reached the semi-finals of the competition for the past two seasons, went into the match as strong favourites as they play two leagues above the East Cornwall division one side.

And the match all seemed to be going to plan as Penryn raced into a 3-0 half-time lead, but Polperro fought-back in the second half and would have equalised had in not been for a goal-line clearance from Peter MacLean.

It proved to be pivotal moment in the cup tie as it ended a rocky period of play for the visitors who, having survived the scare, went onto score two further goals to win the match.

It was Athletic’s first competitive visit to the village side’s Killigarth ground, which with the help of players and groundstaff had survived the frosty conditions to be given the go-ahead for play.

Penryn started at a lively pace looking to get the game wrapped up as quickly as possible. They twice went close to opening the scoring in the first five minutes as first Ben Williams tested home keeper Mike Rickard, with a shot he tipped round the post, and then Hugh Howlett’s shot struck the crossbar.

The visitors were in front on 18 minutes though as Sean Johnston went on a marauding run into the opposition’s box before hitting a stinging shot, which Rickard could only parry to Will Scoley who, on the corner of the six-yard box, smashed in the rebound.

The one-way traffic continued for much of the first half and when Polperro had difficulty in clearing a Scoley corner on 27 minutes, Howlett was in the right place to stab the ball home from close-range.

It was 3-0 nine minutes before the break when the lively Johnston sent in a low cross for Gregg Hobbs to run onto and hit a first-time shot past Rickard.

At that point it looked game over for the home side but, playing with the slope in the second half, they came out determined after the interval epitomised by Rob Spencer’s early shot at goal, which Symon Winnan had to dive low to stop. Spencer was not to be denied though as five minutes later he beat two defenders, on his way into the box, before slipping a shot past Winnan and inside the far post.

Penryn could sense a difficult second half was on the way and they were thrown deeper into trouble on 65 minutes when Spencer was sent tumbling in the box following an innocuous challenge from David Blizzard. The referee pointed to the spot and goalkeeper Rickard came out of his goal to hit the penalty past his opposite number and put the tie back in the balance.

Penryn hit back with a shot from Johnston, but Polperro continued to press and were given a glorious opportunity to level the scores with 20 minutes remaining. Skipper Dave Gilbert found himself unmarked in the box but, as he hit a shot past Winnan, the alert MacLean raced back to boot the ball clear as it threatened to roll over the line. Having survived the scare Penryn then regained their composure and were unfortunate not to get a penalty of their own when Ben Williams was body-checked in the Polperro box.

However, they were given breathing space again moments later as Rickard was forced to parry another powerful shot from Johnston, allowing Hal Davis to force the rebound over the line.

At the other end Polperro’s man-of-the-match Spencer went down in the area again, but this time his appeals for a penalty were waved away by the official.

As a result when Johnston completed his impressive display by finally beating Rickard with one of his shots - the three-goal advantage had been restored and the tie was now beyond Polperro.

It didn’t stop their fighting spirit though as substitute Dale Hooper broke into the box with four minutes remaining to roll a shot past Winnan to make it 5-3