NIALL Devenish wants Helston to carry their wins from the last two league games of the season into the Cornwall Clubs Cup.

On Saturday, the Blues defeated Stithians 36-23 in a crucial relegation battle to all but ensure their survival in Tribute Cornwall One for another season.

A week earlier, the side beat Roseland 19-18 in what was their first win in six matches.

With their league season over, Helston head into the cup competition where they make up Group B alongside their opponents from Saturday and Lanner, who won promotion from Cornwall Two.

Head coach Devenish expects the competition to be tough, but believes the side can use their recent victories to build confidence going into the group stage.

Devenish said: “Hopefully we can use the wins as a bit of momentum for the cup.

“We are looking forward to the cup, although we know our work is cut out against the sides we’ve been drawn against.

“In August we were beaten by Lanner and they have done really well this season and we know Stithians will want revenge on us.

“But we are optimistic we can put a strong side out and have a good end to the season.”

Falmouth Packet:

A scrum starts to come up

Tons of pressure surrounded Saturday’s clash at Clodgey Lane with the losers knowing they would be relegated.

Stithians still have another league game to play and a bonus point victory will see them overhaul Helston.

However, this match is against Newquay Hornets, who have gone through the season undefeated.

Despite the stakes being high, Devenish said he did have to act like Winston Churchill, on what was the 50th anniversary since his death, before the game started.

“All the guys were well geed up,” he said.

“It didn’t need a big speech from me to tell them what it all meant as a lot of the senior guys were doing that anyway.

“Overall I thought it showed on the pitch how pumped they were for the game as in my view about half a dozen had their best performance of the season.”

Looking back over the league season, Devenish told the Packet consistency on the pitch and player availability has been the main problem for the side.

“It has been difficult,” Devenish said.

“At no point this season have I been able to put the same starting 15 out for two games in a row.

“We have a large contingent who are in the Navy and a few working in the agricultural industry, so there have been certain times of the season where some of them have been posted out abroad or unable to play due to their work.

“But it is one of those things we have to deal with it and get on with it.”