Cornwall Games 2006


CORNWALL 23 GLOUCESTERSHIRE 32

DUCHY REMAIN UPBEAT

Saturday 6th May 2006. By Mark Stevens of the Western Morning News.

CORNWALL coach Chris Brown wants his side to "move forward" after they slipped to defeat at home to Gloucestershire in their opening County Championship game of the season.

This opening weekend setback means the Black & Golds have it all to do over the next fortnight, starting with this Saturday's trip to Hertfordshire, who were hammered 59-7 by reigning county champions Devon.

The Duchy now know they must repeat a similar feat to that of their Tamarside rivals, whilst at the same time hope Devon can record victory over Gloucestershire at Lydney.

Should both scenarios happen, then it will set-up a mouth-watering derby showdown at Redruth on May 20, a game which Cornwall would have to win - with the final group table then likely to be dependant on points difference.

Certainly Brown and fellow coaches Nigel Hambly and Jim McKay will have plenty to work on ahead of their trip to the Home Counties this weekend. A disappointed Brown said afterwards: "It was disappointing. I felt we looked like a team who had only come together this week in the first half. "Certainly in the break-down area we needed to be a bit more effective than we were and our ball presentation perhaps wasn't what it should be. "

"The pleasing thing was we made a lot of line breaks and got behind them an awful lot, but we didn't seem to be able to put them to the sword and capitalise. "I thought there were some very encouraging performances in the backs, while Josh Lord went very well up front, as did Villi Ma'asi."

However, Brown refused to completely rule out Cornwall's hopes of reaching the final. He added: "It is a three-game campaign and Gloucestershire against Devon is going to be some battle. If Devon do take Gloucester then we have got Devon at home and who knows what is going to happen. If results go our way then we could still be in the mix. Our challenge is to move forward from this and play a lot better at Hertfordshire. We can only take it week by week."

Although Gloucestershire - who have won the competition on 17 previous occasions - showed they will be more than a match for Devon, who themselves are chasing a unique hat-trick of titles.

In truth, Cornwall could have few complaints after Saturday's defeat. Unlike previous years where the Duchy's finest have torn into their opponents from the outset, this time round it took until the final quarter for the home side to at least show their true colours. By then, however, Cornwall - supplemented this year by a healthy contingent of Cornish Pirates - were well adrift of their opponents, who stunned the home side on 12 minutes with a converted try from winger Tom Jarvis. Home fly-half Lee Jarvis cut the arrears with a penalty shortly after, before both sides were reduced to 14 men, Josh Lord (Cornwall) and Regan Turoa (Gloucestershire) sin-binned for professional fouls.

Turoa's indiscretion was punished with a second Lee Jarvis penalty, but the Pirate - making his county debut - was unable to add a third on 28 minutes.

Gloucestershire made the most of the let-off, stinging their hosts with a second try on 31 minutes. A surging run down the right from Chris Holder saw him halted by a great tackle by Ricky Pellow, but the visitors recycled the ball quickly to the left where No.8 Tom Brown was on hand to score, Mark Woodrow again adding the extras. Cornwall were clearly in need of a lift and it duly arrived in first-half injury time when backs Rhodri McAtee and Matt Jess combined well to set-up Lee Jarvis for a try, which he also converted.

Having got to within a point, Cornwall then endeavoured to hit the self-destruct button either side of the interval. A Woodrow penalty made it 17-13 at the turn, before the Nottingham fly-half was on hand to convert Brown's second try a minute after the restart.

Still it did not get any better for the home side, Woodrow's left boot firing Gloucestershire further in front on 47 minutes after Pellow had been penalised for holding on in the tackle.

Again Cornwall were in need of a pick-me-up. Enter, centre stage, Andy Birkett.

No sooner had the colourful Launceston back - the sole survivor of the Duchy's last championship winning side of 1999 - jogged his way to the full-back slot, then he was collecting a pass and diving his way over the line to score his side's second try. An inspired replacement - "Super Sub" had arrived.

Birkett's intervention suddenly lifted home hopes, only for them to be shot down within minutes courtesy of visiting full-back Dave Knight, who gleefully accepted a pass from ex-Pirate Duncan Murray to touchdown in the right-hand corner. Cornwall - to their credit - refused to lie down, launching a series of attacks at their counterparts in the dying stages. Had they played the earlier 70 minutes like they did the final ten, then the masses could well have been celebrating rather than commiserating today.

Some superb defensive work from Gloucestershire, who included Exeter Chiefs lock Mark Gabey in their line-up, helped keep the Duchy at bay until the final minute when Birkett released club-mate Marc Sweeney to cross in the corner. It was, however, a little late by then.

Cornwall scores (23): Tries - L Jarvis, Birkett, Sweeney; Conversion - L Jarvis; Penalties - L Jarvis 2

Cornwall: R McAtee (Cornish Pirates); L Vinnicombe (Cornish Pirates), M Sweeney (Launceston), PJ Gidlow (Redruth), M Jess (Cornish Pirates); L Jarvis (Cornish Pirates),R Pellow (Mounts Bay); D Seal (Cornish Pirates), V Ma'asi (Cornish Pirates), S Heard (Cornish Pirates); R Carroll (capt, Redruth), D Cook (Redruth); J Lord (Launceston), S Betty (Cornish Pirates), N Pascoe (Redruth). Replacements (used): M Richards (Redruth) for Pellow 60), A Birkett (Launceston) for McAtee 60, J Wilce (Launceston) for Carroll 16, A Morcom (Redruth) for Heard 67, S Perry (Launceston) for 64 Replacements (not used): S Harrison (Redruth), G Corin (St Ives) Yellow Card: Lord

Gloucestershire scores (32): Tries - T Jarvis, Brown 2, D Knight; Conversions - Woodrow 3; Penalties - Woodrow 2

Gloucestershire: D Knight (Pertemps Bees); A McRae (Lydney), C Holder (Moseley),D Murray (Doncaster), T Jarvis (Lydney); M Woodrow (Nottingham), P Knight (Pertemps Bees); N Baylis (Moseley), P Finkin (Dings Crusaders), M Long (Pertemps Bees); M Gabey (Exeter Chiefs), P Kiely (Lydney); R Turoa (Lydney), S Williams (Stourbridge), T Brown (Worcester Warriors). Replacements (used): S Edwards (Dings Crusaders) for McRae 59, R Teague (Henley Hawks) for Woodrow 79, T Richardson (Nottingham) for T Jarvis 80, C Hall (Henley Hawks) for Finkin 67, R Davis (Moseley) for Baylis 79, D Bufton (Dings Crusaders) for Turoa 79, D Jenkins (Lydney) for Williams 73) Yellow Cards: Turoa, Williams, Holder.

Referee: R Kitt (RFU)