PENRYN Athletic have nearly done enough to secure a top five finish in this season’s South West Peninsula League West after beating Illogan RBL 4-0.

The turning point of Saturday’s game at Kernick Road came in the 40th minute when Paul Wolstencroft was red carded by referee Neil Rudkin for a deliberate handball on the goal-line.

This pulled the plug out of the visitors’ game as Josh Burton slammed the spot-kick home to give Athletic the lead.

Before this moment it had been a close affair between the sides who started the day in fifth and seventh positions respectively in the league table.

Kevin Lawrence had seen a near post effort saved by Steve Parker-Billings while home goalkeeper Chris Symons was also tested by a couple of close range shots.

A penalty was awarded to the hosts ten minutes before they opened the scoring when Lawrence was bundled over by Dominic Batchelor, but the diminutive forward failed to convert the kick after dusting himself off from the foul.

After the break, it took a while for Athletic to extend their lead but once they did add a second, RBL’s defence collapsed.

Lawrence doubled the home side’s score in the 72nd minute after substitute Scott Palmer saw his shot but Burton got to the rebound and set up Lawrence, who rounded Parker-Billings and slotted the ball into an empty net.

Within four minutes, Athletic had four goals to their name as Ollie Moody and Sean Johnson got on the scoreboard to kill off RBL’s challenge.

On Saturday, the side head to title chasing Vospers Oak Villa.

PENRYN: Symons, Blizzard, May, Johnson, Oliver (c), Martt, Burton (Band 75), Moody, Cooke (Palmer 68), Broglino (Dunn 12), Lawrence.