Winter arrived with a bang for the local football leagues at the weekend.

After a wet week, heavy rain which swept in on a windy storm on Saturday morning wiped out most of the matches throughout Cornwall.

The Western League games featuring Mousehole, Helston, Saltash United, Torpoint Athletic and Millbrook were all called off – some very late after referees’ inspections.

Helston had a wasted journey to Ilfracombe while Mousehole’s opponents, Ashton & Backwell, were already at Cornwall Services on the A30 when they heard the match at Trungle Parc was off.

In the South West Peninsula League the only league match to survive in Cornwall was at Wendron, where the leaders beat St Dennis on a saturated pitch.

St Dennis manager Simon Minett wasn’t happy with the decision to play on.

The two scheduled Walter C Parson league cup ties went ahead with mixed fortunes for the Cornwall teams. Liskeard Athletic won 2-1 at Brixham with a late Dan Jennings goal but St Blazey bowed out after a 2-1 defeat at Axminister.

While football sunk under the weight of the torrential rain, local rugby fared much better and St Austell were involved in a muddy thriller at Newton Abbot in Regional 2 South West.

There were impressive wins for Redruth and Camborne – the Cherry & Whites clinching theirs with an Aaron Simmonds penalty deep into injury time.

Saltash and Liskeard-Looe also enjoyed winning Saturdays.

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