Falmouth Town will begin the defence of their Cornwall Senior Cup crown at home to the familiar faces of local rivals Helston Athletic on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).

Town provided a shock when the teams last met at Helston’s Kellaway Park nearly four weeks ago for their FA Vase first round proper tie, with Andrew Westgarth’s side scoring five goals and running riot against their higher-ranked rivals that were enjoying a 13-game winning run in all competitions.

The win acted as revenge for Town, who had shipped five goals to the same side on the same ground in the Dave Gardner Memorial Tournament in July.

The boot will be firmly on the other foot this time, with Steve Massey’s Helston eager to right the wrongs of the Vase tie and get one over their rivals on their own patch.

Town will also have to deal with the tag of cup holders, after they lifted the trophy for the first time in 22 years back in April following a 2-1 win over Saltash United.

Westgarth said: “The saga continues doesn’t it? Falmouth versus Helston, a familiar tale but it’s got all the makings of another good cup game. All the F-Troop are already talking about it and are starting to build the numbers up, it’s just important that we can repeat what we did in the previous game and get the win.

“They’re still on a really good run, only one defeat in that whole period [their last 16 games] and they’ll be licking their wounds.

"It’s got all the makings of another great cup game.”

Helston will aim to end a run of three successive cup eliminations at the hands of Town, having also been knocked out of the Walter C Parson League Cup by Falmouth in each of the last two seasons.

Saturday’s tie will be the third time the two teams have met this season - after Helston won 2-1 at Bickland in the SWPL Premier West in September - and the sixth time in the last 12 months.

The 689 in attendance at Kellaway Park for the Vase tie between the teams is the highest of the national tournament, and a similar crowd may be expected this weekend.

  • Follow live text coverage of the tie on the Packet website from 1pm on Saturday.