ST IVES 42 - CREDITON 23

WHILST the trip to St Ives proved a fruitless one in terms of gaining any points, there were a number of positives to come out of the game.

Short of a few regulars and losing skipper Ben Wonnacott in the opening 10 minutes, plus the loss of another influential back row forward Andy Brown, both through injury, proved just a little too much to contend with.

However, the home side already promoted as League Champions and with players fighting for a place in the side for the Cornwall Cup Final, fielded as strong a side as they have put out all season.

To make matters worse, they opened the scoring after only two minutes when we made a bit of a mess of the kick off and they ended up with a try in the corner.

Once we settled though, we began to put some quality rugby together and the pressure told as Oli Down slotted a couple of penalties to put us ahead.

At this stage we actually looked the better side although we were knocked back when the home side took the lead with another try and it would be an understatement to say there was a hint of a knock on as the ball spilled forwards five yards in a tackle.

Regrettably it was not spotted and the try given. More pressure from us and another Down penalty left us trailing by a point at the interval.

The second half started as the first, with an early try for St Ives and I make no apology if it sounds as though excuses are being made, but the try again resulted from a pretty blatant knock on.

It certainly looked as though the home side would begin to run away with things but, in the space of four minutes, the game changed, if only temporarily.

As we attacked and got ourselves to within 10 metres of their line, a neat chip through the home defence from Jason Luff ended with prop Phil Holmes winning the race to touch down.

The conversion from Oli Down cut the deficit to a single point. Within minutes, we were ahead and it was Down whose pace proved too much with a dash down the right and a score under the posts, the conversion put us 23-17 up.

Down almost grabbed another with a break down the middle but the cover tackle pulled him down five metres out.

Clearly rattled, St Ives came at us but the defence held pretty firm until the final quarter when three tries and a penalty in quick succession took them to 35-23 and we were out of contention for a bonus point.

However, a home attack was turned over in our “22” and a long clearance upfield was latched onto by winger Jack Zilch and as he drew the last defender and slipped the ball inside to Down, who had a clear run to the line for a certain seven points.

Unfortunately, the whistle went somewhat belatedly and we were brought back as it was deemed that Zilch had been in front of the kicker, disappointing to say the least. From the resulting quickly taken penalty, St Ives grabbed their final score.

A really disappointing result. We deserved far more out of the game but nonetheless with other sides around us getting results, we are left second from bottom and the battle against relegation continues against Tiverton.

It has to be said though that the spirit among the players was excellent, it was a very young side that put everything into their performance.

The home crowd were finding it difficult to understand why were are battling relegation as for long periods we were the better side.

‘QUINS

Tries from prop Maca Jones and flanker Dan Vanstone, plus two Tom Ronchetti conversions, looked to have put the ‘Quins in a winning position against Teignmouth Seconds and indeed we were ahead 14-10 until the final few minutes when the visitors scored twice to sneak the win.

HORNETS

The Third Fifteen travelled to Bideford and secured a 43-21 Merit Table victory against the home Second Fifteen. By all accounts it was a hard-earned win in a physical contest.

Mark Lee bagged a try hat-trick, and Hayden Hill grabbed two with Chris Simpson getting in on the act with one. Hill landed four conversions.

COLTS

The Colts put in one of their best performances of the season before losing to Colts Shield finalists Exeter 7-10.

The big game in many ways is this Saturday (April 14) at home against Tiverton and it certainly looks as though the relegation battle may not be settled until the final game of the season at Torquay on April 21.

Paul Harris