TORPOINT Athletic can feel well pleased with their St Piran League outfit, who at the time of the lockdown were sitting handily in eighth place but with games in hand over the teams above them – mainly against sides below them – and a top-half finish was not out of the question, writes Dave Potham.

‘Point’ decided to enter the St Piran League after years of success in the East Cornwall League.

There was also a change of manager, with Martin Piper and Paul Hammond taking over from the highly successful Mike Roberts, with Neil Mansfield and Dan Ottley their assistants.

It took time for the young team to gel, but at the time of the lockdown, ‘Point’ had started to climb the table.

Manager Piper said: ‘The season ended prematurely and my thoughts to everyone concerned, and a special mention to all key workers for the jobs they are doing.

‘In terms of us, our lads have grown stronger and stronger as the season has progressed and are developing into a fantastic side.

‘We were sitting in ninth position with games in hand on the two to three sides above us, so plenty to play for with six of the bottom eight to play in our remaining nine games before the end of the season (not that there was a guarantee we would have won, of course), so I’d have hoped we could have risen a couple of places if the season was to be finished.’

He added: ‘On the pitch we are developing a new young squad which will be very capable in the coming years.

‘And off it, we are lucky to work with such a good club who support us all season.’

Torpoint were well served by top scorer Henry Bunning, who averaged a goal a game, but he was surrounded by a young team who were learning all the time.

Piper said: ‘We have had an inconsistent season in terms of results this term, but in terms of a team development, we have taken major strides forward.

‘The average age of the side is only 18 and a half so lots of positives to come from our season.

‘We had big away wins against the top four, and the resilience and team work we’ve shown since the turn of the year has made us much harder to beat and which have been major strengths that have helped us lose only one game in 2020.

‘We are hoping to retain current players for next season and add a couple more.’