Penryn Athletic boss Andy Parry has set his sights on improving on last season’s fifth-placed finish in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League (CSWPL) division one west after a positive start to pre-season.

Rumours that Penryn were set to lose a number of first team players had started to circulate in recent weeks, but Parry admits it is in fact the opposite and he and assistant Alan Rundle were delighted with the turnout for their first training session last Thursday.

Sean Johnston and Hal Davis have left to join Truro City Reserves, but long -standing Penryn player Will Scoley has made a u-turn on his decision to leave and influential midfielder Dale Band has agreed to stay despite a lot of interest from other clubs.

Added to that Parry has signed six new players including Perranporth striker Kayne Trevaskis and his midfield team-mate Liam Street; Wendron pair James Daniel and Adam Barnicoat, Falmouth Albion’s Stephen Owen and centre-half Tom Whipp. Lee Jeffreys and Kirk Davies are also set to make the step up from Penryn Reserves.

Andy Parry, who took over as first team boss at the start of the summer having spent a number of years managing the reserve side, said: “Me and my assistant Alan have been delighted with the turnout and we have brought in a number of new faces.

“Generally we have strengthened across the board. We have brought in a couple of strikers, but I don’t think scoring goals was a problem for us last season. We did concede a lot of goals and we are going to concentrate on trying to defend better as a team."

For full report pick up a copy of this week's Falmouth Packet.