A LATE strike from substitute Dan Stidwell earned Helston Athletic a point against Penryn Athletic on Saturday as they bid for a top two finish in the CSWPL division one west.

It had looked like Helston were heading to their first defeat since a 4-3 loss away at Callington in October as they trailed for much of the second half to a Gregg Hobbs header.

But Dan Stidwell, who had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes, fired the ball into the back of the net following a run into the area from Liam Eddy.

Penryn went into the match looking to close the gap on their local rivals as they bid for a top four finish themselves.

Kayne Trevaskis and Tom Whipp were welcomed back into the starting line-up having missed the majority of games in December.

Penryn sat deep looking to reduce the space in behind the defence and neutralise the threat that Helston striker Liam Eddy could cause with his pacey runs into the box.

However, it was the home side who had the better of the early play and they almost took the lead when Jamie Thomson crashed a shot against the Penryn crossbar. Hugh Howlett was then booked as he tripped a lively Eddy.

Penryn were in front on the stroke of half-time though as Dan Richardson’s corner was headed in by Hobbs.

The visitors defended well in the second half and looked to have done enough to earn a point, but were denied by Stidwell’s late equaliser. Penryn complained that there had been a foul on goalkeeper, Jason Peters, in the lead up to the goal, but things could have got worse for the visitors in the closing stages as Stidwell almost grabbed all three points when he hit another effort against the post.