CAMELFORD boss Bobby Hopkinson believes ‘all the pressure is on Falmouth’ when the two sides meet in the New Year in the last eight of the Cornwall Senior Cup.

The Camels – who reached last year’s final before being beaten by Penzance at St Blazey – reached the quarter-finals on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory at South West Peninsula League Premier West rivals St Mawgan.

The dominant Camels took the lead on 19 minutes when centre-half Dan Hocking controlled Hopkinson’s corner before rifling in from 12 yards, but the hosts, who had the wind behind them in the first half, levelled five minutes later when visiting keeper Cory Harvey slipped early on when looking to sweep up a throughball, allowing Johan Allen to slot home.

St Mawgan were then on top before the break, and were inches away from going ahead, only for Harvey to redeem himself with a brilliant fingertip to a shot that was destined for the top corner.

However, within three minutes of the restart the Camels were two goals clear.

Firstly, Hopkinson’s corner was headed on by man-of-the-match Ross Beare for skipper Tom Crowe to bundle in from inside the six-yard box, and it was 3-1 when Hopkinson laid the ball off to Matt Gilmour who released Jacob Turner with the midfielder finding the corner from the edge of the box.

From there on, Camelford were relatively comfortable as they set up a home date with two-league higher Falmouth.

A delighted Hopkinson said: “It was another pleasing win in not easy conditions, we dealt with it really well.

Over the last three games the lads have taken on board the philosophy we’re trying to play with, and we’re doing this too with players out.

“However, those who have come in have really stepped up, so credit to the young lads. We’ve got three or four 17-year-olds in at the moment, but they’re more than holding their own.”

Hopkinson is under no illusions of the task ahead in the next round, but believes the underdog tag can be a big help, particularly after last year’s heroics where they knocked out Newquay and Mousehole from higher divisions.

He continued: “I think with it being a case of a team that like to try and play football as opposed to going to war will be a help to us, as is us being at home.

“We did it last year where we knocked out two of the favourites, so why can’t we do it again.

“As I said to the lads on Tuesday night, there’s no pressure on us with that draw and the expectation is all on Falmouth, so we can just go out there and enjoy it and see what happens.”

CAMELFORD: Cory Harvey; Sam Watts, Dan Hocking, Tom Crowe (capt), Olly Taylor; Matt Gilmour, Ross Beare, Jacob Turner; Kyle Flew, Bobby Hopkinson, Joe Parr. Subs: Piotr Maciejewski, Matt Lloyd.

Camels’ man-of-the-match: Ross Beare.