FALMOUTH Town manager Andrew Westgarth showered praise on his side after they won 5-1 at local rivals Helston Athletic in the FA Vase first round proper tie at Kellaway Park.

Billy Tucker had given the Blues the lead midway through the half, but goals from Matt Buchan and David Broglino turned the tables shortly before the break.

Buchan doubled the lead just after the hour before Broglino netted from the spot four minutes later, with Luke Brabyn completing an emphatic win with 20 minutes to go.

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Westgarth said: "That was us in a nutshell, wasn't it? In cup competitions we come alive. We were organised and disciplined. To go 1-0 down and to win it 5-1 [was fantastic], and some of the goals we scored and the way we played was brilliant. I'm looking forward to watching the highlights."

The Blues have been the ones making the headlines so far this season after Steve Massey's men extended their winning run to 13 games in all competitions after beating previously unbeaten Mousehole on Wednesday night, but Westgarth was keen to remind everyone that his side were also enjoying a good run of form themselves.

Town have now won seven of their last eight games since a 2-1 defeat at home to Blues in the South West Peninsula League Premier West on September 4.

"A lot has been said about this run,"he said. "Everyone's going on about ten games, 13 games, but they don't give out any trophies in October. People can get carried away by it, they can go on a 15-game run and they could end up coming fifth, it's just the way it is, you can only play what's in front of you.

"We're on a good run ourselves and I've been very vocal on it. Our troubles we had in August, injuries, unavailabilities, but since we've had our squad back we look a different team, so I'm really pleased for the boys today.

"Special mention to Jonno [Luke Johnson] who has been out since that last Helston game [on September 4], he's been out ever since and to play 65-70 minutes like he did, I thought he was brilliant."

Another player putting in a fine performance on a return from injury was David Broglino. The midfielder had missed most of the season before making his first since Town's 7-1 win at Launceston in August, and marked it with two goals and an impressive all-round performance.

"We've missed that quality from Broggy," Westgarth said, "but look at today, we had no [Tim] Nixon, no [Jack] Bowyer, no [Luke] Barner, and the boys were excellent today. The way they finished the game, we were going forward with pace, desire, passion, we looked great every time we got the ball and Helston ran out of ideas.

"It's no shock that their best two players were Southern League players, Matty Bye and Tucker were excellent all game. Every time Matty got the ball he looked to switch play and get on the ball, and every time Tucker got it you thought he was going to do something, so to keep them as quiet as we did made me really proud of the boys."

PICTURE GALLERY: 83 photos from Falmouth Town's FA Vase win over Helston Athletic

Westgarth also paid tribute to the F-Troop, who were in fine voice throughout the game and made up the majority of the outstanding 689 crowd at Kellaway Park.

"The colour, the noise, the support [was excellent]," he said. "It's been well documented about the F-Troop and if anybody can say anything bad about that today they're in the wrong sport because that was awesome."

The victory was the latest in a long line of impressive cup wins for Town, who, aside from an excellent third-place finish in 2018, have performed far better in cups than in the league in recent seasons, having won the Walter C Parson League Cup and Cornwall Senior Cup in the last two years.

When questioned about his side's penchant for cup competitions, Westgarth replied: "Because it's very hard to win a league. The best teams win a league and I think everyone else has got a chance in the cup. I was really disappointed last year with us coming sixth and our away form was really poor, so to win a league is very, very tough and I think we're very well suited to win a cup."

Town will now look forward to Monday's draw for the second round proper, and offers the chance for Westgarth to test his side against different opposition after the Town manager admitted being "slightly deflated" to draw their local rivals when the draw was made last month.

"It'd be sod's law if we get Saltash!" he said. "But it was brilliant for us to win this game, it gets us back in the hat and I'm sure the boys will be delighted with the draw."