For the Penzance-based Pirates Amateurs, who finished eighth in last season’s Tribute Cornwall/Devon League, training has gone well ahead of their 2018/19 campaign, writes Phil Westren.

Newly appointed Head Coach, Murray Westren, said: “As we are looking for a bit of a fresh start, training attendances of 23 or 24 players every Tuesday and Thursday has been encouraging, with everyone seemingly buying into a new environment.

“The hope for the ‘Ams’ is to be a local town club representing the Penzance area, to be competitive and to sustain a whole season of doing well.”

Westren, a former Pirates Amateurs, Redruth, and Camborne player, who has been forced to retire early, added: “It’s been great to have the help of Cornish ‘Pirate’ Matt Evans as Coach.

"Giving his time he has worked on handling, decision making and skills, and has brought a really competitive edge to training sessions that are hard but also quite short, and enjoyable.

“The presence of Steve Evans is also a bonus, as he’s at the heart of the club and really rallies the boys, getting them motivated and organised to train.

"This enables me to look overall and see how we are going to play, and it also allows ‘Mevs’ (Matt Evans) to do a lot more of the technical stuff.

“For the forwards, the help given by Alan Paver at a couple of sessions has been invaluable, as has that of another Cornish Pirate in Tom Cowan-Dickie, who has come along to oversee the forwards when he can, casting an eye with an aim to give them a bit of direction.

“Finally, of course, we have a committed back up group of officials, including such as Team Manager Martyn Bodilly and other stalwarts who do a really great job.”

Ahead of their opening League fixture away to Plymouth Arguam on Saturday, September 1, following a pre-season training game with the Cornish Pirates the Pirates Amateurs will play Truro away on Tuesday, August 14 and then Falmouth at home on Friday, August 24.