Porthleven FC are celebrating reaching two cup finals in a matter of days after successive victories last week.

Firstly, on Wednesday, March 16 the Fishermen defeated Mousehole Development 3-2 at Hayle's Trevassack Park to reach the final of the St Piran League Cup with eight-under 18s in their squad.

Dan Greet opened the scoring in the first half but the sides were all level at the break. But Porthleven retook the lead after the tie when Captain Martyn Webster tapped home a free-kick before Greet was sent off after an off the ball incident. Despite being a man light Porth scored again through young Dan Parker before Mousehole added one more to make it 3-2 at the final whistle.

The Gala Parc side were joyous again on Sunday, March 20 as their Under 18's outfit reached the final of the Rathbone Cup with a 1-0 win over Torpoint. Seven of the youngsters who played in Wednesday's match played once more at The Mill and it was Parker again who was amongst the goals with a vital finish to send Porth through to another final.

Speaking to the Packet, Porthleven Chairman Rob Hichens was delighted with the progress his club has made in such a short matter of time. He said: "We're stoked with what has been happening, for us as a club I don't want to keep going over it but we were in such a bad place to now move on six months find ourselves in two finals is pretty impressive.

"Everything has aligned at the right time. In the semi-final against Mousehole typical of it being a semi-final in midweek, we struggled to put a side out because people are working and there are quite a lot of injuries. Once again we put our faith in eight-under 18s, last time it was seven this time it was eight. It was a difficult game it was a feisty affair.

"It goes to show, very much like the quarter-final that those players went out for their club and their teammates and fought hard to ground out the result on the day."

Following the semi-final win on Wednesday Porthleven arranged for their under 18s side to have a team bus to transport up to Torpoint for the Sunday fixture in a sign of gratitude and belief in their youngsters.

"We have come a long way, we are grateful for everything the players are doing." Hichens began. "With the under 18s getting to the final on Sunday they knew what was asked of them in a semi-final. They have had the experience four days previous so they can sit in a changing room and think 'if we work hard we can get to the final'.

"We put a bus on for them, this is the end of their under 18 season with us. We wanted it to be a decent memory for them, shirt and tied it up.

"The preparation we did, putting the bus on making them feel on top of the world gave them that extra push to get them through to the final."

"This is what we looked at as a club. The way we will rebuild this club is by using youth and getting them to buy into us as a club. That means when they are ready to transition into adults football they have got to be ready because we don't want to say to them 'you're not good enough go to another club'.

"Exposing those eight players to a quarter-final and a semi-final in the men's game has put them where we want them to be for next season. We knew this year was going to be about consolidating, putting a team on the pitch that is where our basics started then progressing from there. We never thought we'd be sat here in two cup finals but that is massive because of these under 18 players. They have stepped up when we needed them when the club was is in trouble."

The atmosphere around the club is considerably more positive than it was this time six months ago when the club suddenly announced its resignation from the South West Peninsula League. Looking ahead to next season the club is now planning for developments off the pitch in the form of a new roof for the clubhouse as well as an uplift of their changing rooms that are relatively unchanged since the building opened in 1956.

On the pitch too they are expanding. With two men's teams, an under 16 side, under-nines boys and girls outfit plus an under eight girls team planned for next season it clearly shows that the club is focusing on nurturing younger players. Those who are interested in joining the under 16s squad for the 2022/23 season should contact the club via their Facebook or Twitter page. The under eight girls team are also in need of a sponsor heading into the new season.

Hichens explained the decision regarding the creation of an under 16s team rather than an under 18 side for next season, he said: "We chose 16s because that gives them three years of building up to go into men's football. Once they turn 16 we can slowly expose them to the first and second teams. We are looking at having another men's team next year, how that looks at the moment we have to wait and see but we are definitely going to have another men's team there.

"I think it showcases the fact we believe in the youth and the youth believe in us by putting us into two finals. I think anybody that is a young player should be thinking Porthleven FC, that is where I want to be. It has one of the best pitches in Cornwall, the committee clearly believes in youth players. They were on their knees, then all of a sudden they have used the youth and got into two finals."

Porthleven's next league match is tonight at Gala Parc when the Fishermen welcome St Day who are second in the St Piran League West table.