UNLESS Torpoint Athletic are found to have fielded a suspended player, it is safe to say Wendron United’s Cornwall Senior Cup adventure is over for another year.

The aforementioned error from Callington Town allowed the Dron a reprieve into the fourth round – although in hindsight they may have wished they hadn’t had it.

Goals from each of Danny Zalick, Gary Hird, Mike Lucas and Lewis Young gave Torpoint a handsome four-goal lead at half-time at the Underlane, with further goals from Zalick and Owen Raven after the break pointing the Point towards the quarter-finals.

TJ Walter responded for Wendron, but Jack Greenwood’s side were powerless to prevent the rare and unwanted honour of being eliminated from the same cup competition twice in one season.

Until about three weeks ago this tie was billed as Callington Town versus Torpoint Athletic, but after the former were founds to have fielded an ineligible player in their 1-0 win over Wendron in the previous round, the Dron ended up welcoming Torpoint to the Underlane for the very first time on Saturday.

Not only was it Dean Cardew’s side’s first visit to Wendron, it was also a clash between the first teams of the only two Cornish clubs to field four senior teams, which, in this age of dwindling grassroots numbers, is a huge testament to both clubs and their ability to develop young players.

Torpoint were the pre-match favourites, understandably given their stellar form in the South West Peninsula League Premier East, which has taken them to second in the division.

But Wendron, who are tenth in SWPL Premier West, were arguably the better side in the first 25 minutes, with Walter spurning a golden chance when one-on-one with Torpoint ‘keeper Jason Peters in the third minute, while team-mate Rory Jarvis fired wide from a good position soon after.

But any hopes of this becoming the classic, end-to-end cup tie the game had promised so far came to an abrupt halt, as Torpoint scored four times in 17 minutes to all but secure their spot in the last eight of the cup before the half-time whistle.

The first was an unfortunate one from Wendron’s perspective, as a slip from captain Scott Palmer allowed Zalick to walk into the box and coolly slot past Stedman.

There was no time to be feeling sorry for themselves, however, as Hird doubled the lead less than four minutes later with a near-mirror image of the opener. Another defensive slip gave Hird the time and space to pick his spot and fire past Stedman and into the same corner his team-mate had found moments earlier.

Wendron were afforded a brief eight-minute respite, during which Walter forced a good save from Peters, before the visitors struck again. Hird turned provider with his looping header from Young's cross making life difficult for Stedman, who, in trying to keep the header out of his net, could only hand the honours to Lucas, who tapped in from a couple of yards.

Usually it is the wind that blows you away at the Underlane, but for the last 20 minutes of the first half it was left to Torpoint to blow their opponents aside at every opportunity. Young was on hand to make it four in the 42nd minute, rifling in at the back post to complete what was probably the hosts’ worst 17 minutes of the season so far.

Greenwood admitted at full-time that the aim for the second half was ‘personal pride’, and while that was eventually achieved with a decent second-half display, it looked forlorn when Zalick volleyed in a fifth barely three minutes after the break.

There was a notable drop in tempo after the fifth: Torpoint had done their job of making sure of their place in the next round, while Wendron heads had dropped further.

Walter gave the home support and dugout something to cheer when he tucked home a loose ball midway through the half, but substitute Raven’s late tap-in restored the five-goal margin before full-time as the visitors eased into the last eight.

Out of the cup for the second time in two months, Greenwood and the rest of Wendron can now fully focus on completing their maiden season in the SWPL Premier – provided Torpoint have done their paperwork correctly, that is.