LAUNCESTON Castles’ tough start to Counties Two continued on Saturday as Helston delivered a harsh lesson in a convincing 58-15 victory.

Already depleted through injury and unavailability, the Castles still made the trip down the A30 full of confidence to take the game to a bulky Helston team.

The opening quarter saw a fairly even contest with both teams trading two scores apiece, Mike Redden and George Mill respectively crossing the whitewash for the Castles, before Launceston’s woes began.

Losing scrum-half Ollie Tomkies, winger Redden and captain Simon Burden in the space of five minutes to injuries rocked the Castles momentum, but they continued to fight.

Helston’s immense pack though, led by former Plymouth Albion and Redruth No.8 Brad Howe, powered in two more tries before winger Amori Matanatabu added a fifth on the stroke of half-time as they went in 34-10 ahead.

Launceston’s injury list continued to grow early in the second half as loosehead prop Tom Ware was forced off the pitch with a knee injury and replacement prop Callum Johns had to retire with a concussion.

Without a recognised front row the scrums were forced to go uncontested.

To add insult to injury, despite both teams happy to play, the Helston coaching staff insisted the Castles must drop to 14 players due to not fielding a front row.

Launceston dug deep to compete but despite grabbing a late try of their own through second row Ben Greene, ultimately Helston’s power and numerical advantage was too great as they had run in four more tries to bring the score to 58-15.

Launceston’s player of the match was No.8 Chris Hall.

The Castles will be hoping for a resurgence of players on Saturday as they welcome league favourites Camborne Seconds to Polson Bridge (1.30pm).