Cornwall regained the Tamar Cup by soundly beating Devon at Penryn. Both counties fielded "development sides": hence the lack of players from Launceston and Penzance/Newlyn, and the inclusion of only 3 Redruth players.
This match was played in conditions that resembled Krasnador in Siberia, rather than Cornwall in spring. However, well done to the Penryn club for putting the match on and for all the hard work by the ground staff in getting the pitch playable. With piles of snow around the touchline underneath a blue sky, February sunshine, and a biting cold wind. Cornwall reclaimed the Tamar Cup with a fine display in difficult playing conditions. The Falmouth Marine Band entertained the 400 or so crowd before the kick off.
Cornwall were captained by Redruth scrum half Mark Richards, who led by example. Devon kicked off playing towards the Mabe end and a setting sun. Cornwall seemed to adapt to the conditions the quicker, pinning Devon back in their own 22 with a kicking game. Camborne’s Chilean international Seb Berti, who had an outstanding game at 10, soon created an chance for Borough winger Chris Mann but the chance went begging. Cornwall were in the ascendancy. Nick Brown and Sheldon Waetford looked dangerous going forward. Berti was off target with an early penalty attempt. Cornwall threatened continuously but were unable to break the Devonian defence. On 21 mins the breakthrough came, with Richards darting through to set up a maul. The ball was fired out by Berti along the line at pace and James Greville-Smith was on hand to go over in the college gate corner. Berti was unable to add the extras.
Cornwall were doing well in the lineout with Damien Cook (son of Tony) and Darren Stanley competing well. Cornwall continued to take the game to Devon and were rewarded with a penalty following an attack into the Devon 22 by Mann. Berti’s successful kick gave Cornwall an 8-0 half-time lead.
Cornwall resumed where they left off with Berti kicking an early penalty to put Cornwall 11-0 up. Cornwall continued to put Devon under enormous pressure and it was no surprise when Berti went over himself to score Cornwall’s second try of the match. His conversion put Cornwall 18-0 up and from then on the result was never in doubt.
Sam Heard got Cornwall’s third try after a powerful maul and drive put him over. Once again Berti converted. Both sided proceeded to introduce a stream of replacements as the half wore on. The ever-industrious Chris Mann went over in the scoreboard corner to seal Cornwall’s win in the final move of the match. Cornwall’s skipper Mark Richards received the Tamar Cup from the hands of CRFU President Peter Michell.
A great win for Cornwall but let’s not be under any illusion: if the sides meet in the quarter-finals of the County Championship there will be totally different line-ups for both counties.
Cornwall scores: Tries: James Greville-Smith, Seb Berti, Sam Heard, Chris Mann; pens: Berti 2; cons: Berti
Cornwall team: 15. M. Churcher (Redruth), 14. C. Mann (Penryn),
13. S. Waetford (Penryn), 12. N. Brown (Penryn),11. J. Greville Smith (Penryn),
10. S. Berti (Camborne), 9. M. Richards (Redruth, Capt.), 1. A. Rapson (Hayle),
2. T. Gay (Truro), 3. S. Heard (Redruth), 4. D. Cook (Hayle), 5. D.
Stanley (Penryn), 6. A. Durrant (Camborne), 7. L. Ellis (Hayle), 8. M. Woolcock
(Camborne).
Replacements (all used): 16. J. Caruana (Truro), 17.
B. Kearney (Hayle), 18. R. Worden (Camborne), 19. A. Smith (Camborne),
20. D. Clackworthy (Hayle), 21. L. Stevens (St.Ives), 22. L. Pengelly
(Camborne).
Referee David May (C.R.R.S.), replaced by Mr I Pengelly (C.R.R.S.) on 70 mins.
Cornwall advanced to the second round of this season’s Tetley Bitter County Championship with an encouraging win over a plucky Hertfordshire side which did not roll over, and fought hard to the end.
With the magnificent-sounding Nankersey Male Voice Choir singing in the grandstand before the match, Richard Carroll led his side out to the strains of Trelawny. Hertfordshire kicked off towards the scoreboard end, the ball going immediately out on the full for a scrum back to Cornwall. Soon Carroll was leading by example with one of his trademark charges at the opposition, much to joy of the Cornish crowd. Before long Cornwall had points on the board with local favourite Ian Morgan kicking a penalty goal. Cornwall were soon back in the Hert’s 22. Launceston speedster Ashley Rescorla was just denied a try from a rush on to a loose ball in goal. From the scrum five, Cornwall put the home defence under enormous pressure, which resulted in a penalty to Cornwall in front of the posts, which Morgan converted.
Then Cornwall seemed to let up, allowing Hertfordshire into the game. Neil Barella was looking lively on the wing for the visitors, asking questions of the Cornish defence, which resulted in penalties being conceded. Barella kicked two penalties to level the scores. Cornwall needed to up the pace and set their talented three-quarter line moving. Redruth’s Craig Bonds scored the first Cornish try following some lovely running, to be followed shortly after with a super finish from the Pirate youngster Matt Jess, who confirmed his club form this season with an excellent match for Cornwall today and was for this observer the man of the match. Morgan was unable to convert either try.
Again Cornwall seemed to let Herts back in the match. Resolute defence kept the Cornish try line intact. However, they incurred the wrath of Mr Dix on a number of occasions, allowing Barella to kick a further couple of penalties to make the score 16-12 to Cornwall. Morgan kicked a third penalty goal to put Cornwall 19-12 ahead at half time.
More singing from the excellent Nankersey male voice choir at half time, together with some high jinks from a touring side in the form of a gorilla, a cow and bird amused the crowd. Members of Trelawny’s Army Supporters Club paraded around the ground with a banner in support of the retention of the Cornwall team “Hands off our team RFU”, to rapturous applause from the 2000 plus crowd. Memo to HQ!
Cornwall, after a few words of wisdom from coaches Nick Brokenshire and Terry Pryor, kicked off the second half and were immediately on the attack. Cornwall threw the ball out along the line. A certain try looked on until a Herts player deliberately knocked the ball on, Mr Dix signalling the award of a penalty try. However, he chose not to sin-bin the offending player! Morgan’s conversion from in front of the posts stretched Cornwall to a 26 – 12 lead.
Cornwall started to move the ball, with Ashley Rescorla, James Hawken, and Matt Jess combining well to cause the alarm bells to ring in the visitors' defence on more than one occasion. A period of domination was rewarded with a try for the industrious prop Sam Heard, driven over by his pack.
Cornwall began to ring the changes, replacing the entire front row. Ricky Pellow came on for Mark Richards, Kevin Penrose for Julian Hosking, and Neil Corin for Julian Wilce, who did well with Lee Soper at the lineout. Rescorla was again denied a try as the referee penalised him for a double movement. Pete Bush grabbed a try for Cornwall, converted by Morgan. With time running out Herts had the final say when replacement No8 Peter Moulton hacked on to score a well-taken try.
So on to Redruth next Saturday for the anticipated clash with Devon. Yes there is work to be done to improve certain areas, notably ball retention and cut down the penalty count. It promises to be a battle royal in Hell fire corner, one not to miss, nor for the faint hearted.
Scores: Cornwall: Tries (5), Bonds, Jess, penalty try,
Heard, Bush; penalties (3), conversions (2) Morgan
Herts: Try
Moulton; penalties (4) Barella
Cornwall: 15. James Hawken (Penzance & Newlyn), 14. Ashley Rescorla (Launceston), 13. Craig Bonds (Redruth), 12. I. Morgan (Camborne), 11. Matt Jess (Penzance &:Newlyn), 10. Seb Berti (Camborne), 9. Mark Richards (Redruth), 1. Ashley Morcom (Penzance & Newlyn), 2. Dave Risdon (Launceston), 3. Sam Heard (Redruth), 4. Lee Soper (Penzance & Newlyn), 5. Julian Wilce (Launceston), 6. Richard Carroll (Penzance & Newlyn, Captain), 7. J. Hosking (London Irish), 8. A. Durrant (Camborne)
Replacements: 16. Ian Hambley (Redruth), 17. Ricky Pellow (Penzance & Newlyn), 18. Pete Bush (Penzance & Newlyn), 19. Dan Seal (Penzance & Newlyn), 20. Nick Adams (Penzance & Newlyn), 21. K. Penrose (Penzance & Newlyn) , 22. Neil Corin (Redruth).
Before Saturday’s match, Devon coach and former Cornish favourite Graham Dawe was quoted as saying “Our only ambition at the moment is to reach half-time at Redruth and still be in touch. We will take it from there.” True to his word, Dawe and Devon did just that, aided by a Cornish team that did not make the most of its chances during a titanic first half playing towards Hell-Fire corner, which ended scoreless.
Devon made several changes to their published team before the kick-off. However, it did not weaken their team as was soon evident. Cornwall ran out to a tremendous cheer from the crowd of some 5,000, fired up by the Falmouth Marine Band, a testament of the continuing drawing power of the men in Black & Gold, despite the attractions of Helston Flora Day and other summer activities.
Cornwall kicked off playing towards Hell-Fire Corner, with a stiff breeze at their backs. Cornwall kept Devon pinned back for long periods in their own territory as they sought an early breakthrough. Devon’s forwards had other ideas, notably their back row of Hansen, Lowrie and Thomas, which snuffed out the slightest threat at source. It was helter-skelter rugby from Cornwall as they tried to prise an opening. Tempers were short. Newbury’s full back Malcolm Roberts had a first chance at the posts on 10 minutes but was well short and wide. The Cornish front row were having an uncomfortable time as the Devon 8 exerted the pressure. There was a major bust up amongst the players after 15 minutes which resulted in Devon’s Ken Fisilau receiving a yellow card from referee Mr. Beddow. Could Cornwall take advantage with superior numbers on the field? If anything, the Devonian defence became even meaner. Cornish scrum half Mark Richards relied on the box kick, sensing his forwards under pressure and himself being well marked by Devon’s back row.
When Cornwall did get the ball wide to young Matt Jess, alarm bells rang in the visitors' defence. Roberts spurned a second penalty opportunity, before Jess stormed towards the Piggy Lane corner, only to be hauled down short of the line. Another Cornish attack foundered in Hell Fire Corner when for a moment a try looked on. Devon had survived Fisilau’s yellow card without conceding, in a tight game like this a tremendous psychological boost. Indeed the Albion player was soon carrying the attack to Cornwall as a good passage of play saw the Devon backs and forwards linking ominously.
Cornwall, roared on by the partisan crowd, kicked a penalty into Hell Fire Corner. Lock Julian Wilce took the catch, but Devon countered the Cornish drive well. The ball was thrown wide, again Jess was mighty close, before the ball came back the other way. A try looked on with flanker John Navin free in space, but he never got the ball. Devon countered through scrum-half Ed Lewsey, who took play into the Cornwall half. Devon won a penalty. However, the prolific Bedford Blues points scorer Ed Barnes missed a seemingly straightforward kick. The half came to an end with no score. Dawe and his team had achieved their first objective.
Devon kicked off the second half playing towards Hell-Fire Corner. The game retained its intensity as Cornwall’s skipper Richard Carroll put in a crunching tackle on Dawe. Sadly, during the second half Carroll was injured and was replaced by Neil Corin. It was Cornwall who opened the scoring as Devon were penalised for hands in the ruck. Roberts kicking a fine penalty goal into the wind to the cheers of the crowd. It was to be short-lived optimism. A few minutes later Steve Evans was yellow-carded, reducing Cornwall to 14 men.
The Devon pack, playing with the slope, were putting the Cornish front row under tremendous pressure. In the end centre Pat Sykes forced his way over for Devon’s opening try, which Ed Barnes converted to put Devon 7-3 up. Cornwall made changes in the front row, which improved their scrum. However, Devon edged further ahead with a Barnes penalty. Cornwall managed to reduce the score as full time approached, with Seb Berti assuming the kicking duties and kicking a penalty.
With the game moving into injury time and Cornwall chasing a score, it was Devon who made the score safe with a second try for Sykes, which Barnes converted. With the game lost, Cornwall allowed Devon the final say with the impressive Devon U.20 player Luke Arscott going over for Devon’s third and final try.
So, Devon advance to the semi-final and a trip to Doncaster to face Yorkshire. Cornwall can have no complaints on this performance. Good luck to Graham Dawe and his squad for the rest of the tournament. This was a fine advert for County rugby played at a standard befitting such a fixture, in front of a fine crowd, exactly what the RFU and its sponsors are looking for. As for Cornwall, they must put behind them the bitter disappointment and re-group for a seeding match, next Saturday at Redruth against Middlesex. Then they must start to plan now how to compete at this improved standard next season!
Scores:
Cornwall: penalties: Roberts, Berti
Devon:tries: Sykes (2), Arscott; cons: (2), pen Barnes
Yellow Cards: Fisilau (Devon) 15 mins; Evans (Cornwall) 51 mins.
Cornwall team: M. Roberts (Newbury), J. Hawken (Penzance
& Newlyn), C. Bonds (Redruth), S. Evans (Penzance & Newlyn), M.
Jess (Penzance & Newlyn), S. Berti (Camborne), M. Richards (Redruth),
A. Morcom (Penzance & Newlyn), D. Risdon (Launceston), S. Heard
(Redruth), L. Soper (Penzance & Newlyn), J. Wilce (Launceston), R.
Carroll (Penzance & Newlyn, captain), J. Navin (Redruth), A. Durant
(Camborne).
Replacements (all used): N. Adams (Penzance
& Newlyn), D. Seal (Penzance & Newlyn), P. Bush (Penzance
& Newlyn), A Rescorla (Launceston), D. Pascoe (Penryn), T. Lark
(Penryn), N. Corin (Redruth).
Devon team: G Kingdom (Exeter Chiefs); M Worthington
(Penzance-Newlyn), P. Sykes, K. Fisilau, L. Arscott (all Plymouth Albion); E
Barnes (Bedford Blues), E. Lewsey (Exeter Chiefs); A Ozdemir (Exeter Chiefs), G
Dawe (Plymouth Albion), W Reed (Barnstaple); R Hunt (Bristol), S Gibbons
(Exeter Chiefs); C. Hansen (Exeter Chiefs), C Lowrie (Plymouth Albion, capt),
D. Thomas (Plymouth Albion).
Replacements: J Houston, T.
Mathias (both Plymouth Albion), A. Miller (Exeter Chiefs), J. Hart, M. Dempsey
(both Brixham), S. Roberts (Plymouth Albion).
Referee: Mr T.
Beddow (Gloucs R.R.S.)