​JUDGING by the scoreline you could have been forgiven for thinking that a rugby match took place at Oxland Parc on Saturday.

But the 55-0 scoreline was in fact a result from the Mining Football League game between Illogan RBL reserves and Madron.

In one of the most remarkable results in the history of Cornish football, division one leaders Illogan RBL scored more than half a century of goals in the space of 90 minutes against bottom-of-the-table Madron.

The game was described as a “mockery” by Illogan assistant manager Mark Waters after Madron turned up with only seven players.

And despite Saturday’s deluge of goals, Waters took little pleasure from the win.

He said: “Nobody enjoys games like that, we certainly didn’t enjoy it.

“I have nothing but admiration for the seven Madron players, but it does make a mockery of the league.”

Luke Abbott-Smith led the goal rout with ten goals, with Gareth Pitt (8), Luke Heelen (7), Ryan Treloar (6), Jason Buckley (6), Mikey Pascoe (6), Nick Ward (3), Lee Harris (3), Stuart Peters (3), Adam Callaway (2) and Dave Thomas completing the scoring.

The biggest win in Illogan’s history means they have now scored an incredible 125 goals in 12 games.

Before Saturday’s game Penzance-based Madron had already conceded 150 goals in nine league outings, scoring two.

They gained promotion from division two last season, but following a mass exodus of players close to the start of the new season, they have been forced to assemble a completely new ‘squad’.

Inevitably, after turning up on Saturday four players short of a full line-up and no recognised goalkeeper, Illogan made easy work of Madron’s predicament by racing into a 24-0 half-time lead.

Madron have come in for criticism for not fielding a full starting XI when they had the opportunity.

The second team had 13 players available for their Mining League Division Three game at home to Redruth United on Saturday. However, Madron club secretary Alan Davenport confirmed to West Briton Sport: “The second team are doing very well in their league so we didn’t want to disrupt their team by taking players out.”

Before Saturday’s game, top-of-the-table Illogan had started the day with 70 goals already scored in 11 games.

And with virtually every attack at the weekend the ball inevitably ended in the back of the Madron net.

Waters said: “We paid Madron a lot of respect and just got on with the game.

“We didn’t once send our keeper up as some teams do in these situations and there was no Micky taking.

“At the end of the day it was a league game, it was a waste of everybody’s time, including the referee’s, but we had to abide by the rules and play the game.

“I have nothing but admiration for their boys, they came into the bar afterwards and they were as good as gold.”

This weekend Illogan are away to second from bottom Storm.

And they will, according to club secretary Alan Davenport, continue to fulfil their fixtures, despite their latest setback.

He said: “I know everybody is probably laughing at us but we will battle on.

“Teams drop out of leagues all the time, but we’ve not missed a game this season and we will carry on. This is a very difficult time but why walk out?

“On Saturday we originally had ten players but then two dropped out at the last minute leaving us with seven.

“It was always going to be difficult against the top-of-the-table team but to be fair to them they kept going.”

The club also has a second team, which is more than holding its own in Mining League Division Three.

But despite suggestions from some quarters that they could have called on some players to step up to the first-team on Saturday, Davenport revealed: “The second team are doing very well in their league so we didn’t want to disrupt their team by taking players out.

“The first-team walked out on me and didn’t tell me they were leaving until just before the start of the season.

“I have a great group of young lads here and we will battle on.”

Illogan’s win, though, is not the biggest by a long stretch.

Madagascan side, Stade Olympique de L’Emyrne, put the ball in their own net 149 times in a league match against Adema in protest at a refereeing decision.

Davenport added that he hopes to sign more players. If you are interested in joining the club, which trains at Penzance Astro Park on Wednesday evenings (8pm) contact Alan on 01736 330611.

He will hope to have more players available when Madron face another difficult game on Saturday when they travel to Junior Cup holders St Buryan.