SID Taylor said Helston Athletic’s Charity Cup semi final clash tonight is a welcome distraction from their battle for the league title.

The Blues face fellow South West Peninsula League West promotion chasers St Dennis at Falmouth Town’s Bickland Park with two sides battling for a place in the final on May 6.

On Saturday, Athletic moved closer to securing the league crown after defeating fourth placed Sticker 2-1 at Kellaway Park, keeping them on the division’s top spot.

They sit three points ahead of tonight’s opponents as the season draws to a close and tension builds around the last few games.

With this in mind, Taylor believes switching focus temporarily to another competition for 24 hours will benefit his side.

Taylor said: “In the changing room after Saturday’s game, all the players were actually saying “thank god we’ve got a cup game next”.

“Our attitude is just to take things one game at a time and as soon as anyone starts looking further ahead I stop it, because it can be frightening to look that far ahead.

“Even though it is a midweek game, we can go out and play our football and it is all about us with it being a one off game.

“Promotion is the big issue for us as a club and what we really want, but winning a cup would be good as well and while we’ll be looking to enjoy ourselves, hopefully we can win too.”

He added beating St Dennis could also have an effect on the outcome of the league season.

“Everyone likes to win games and winning is a good habit to get into,” Taylor said.

“If we go and beat them in the semi final, then they’ve got to go into the weekend’s league fixtures needing to react to that, which could help us.

“I’d be disappointed if we lost in the semi final so I can imagine it would be the same with them.”

After the semi final, Athletic moved ahead to another tough clash on Saturday as they visit third placed Vospers Oak Villa in the league.

When the sides met three weeks ago, an injury time goal from Lewis Young saw Villa snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory, but in their last outing were beaten 3-1 by Penryn Athletic.

Taylor admitted this slip up has benefitted his team, but maintained their attitude is looking at their own dealings.

“It is all about what we do,” he said.

“We are the team in pole position and we’ve got to go out there and win our games and not worry about the teams around us.

“A lot of people expected us to slip up against Sticker, but we were up for the challenge and it is all about results at the end of the season, so if we can keep good results coming there’s only going to be one outcome for us.”