Cornwall 26, Lancashire 35
A MAGNIFICENT second half fightback wasn't enough as Cornwall's hopes of bringing the Bill Beaumont Cup back to the county for the first time since 1999 were ended by Lancashire at Twickenham.
In Dave 'Benji' Thomas' final game in charge, Cornwall pushed Lancashire all the way and Paul Thirlby's missed conversion with the Duchy trailing 28-26 with minutes remaining proved decisive.
Nonetheless, it was a day for Cornish rugby to be proud of as thousands of fans made their way to Twickenham.
Cornwall took the lead in the third minute, with Thirlby kicking a penalty from 47 metres out, but Lancashire hit back six minutes later with a penalty from Chris Johnson.
Lancashire went ahead when a slick backs move saw Nick Royle cross for a try in the right-hand corner five minutes later. Johnson added the extras to make it 10-3.
Thirlby missed a chance to hit back when he missed a penalty from around 40 metres after 20 minutes, but then slotted one from half that distance shortly afterwards.
Lancashire's classy back line then weaved a little more magic, moving the ball from left to right for Dominic Moon to cross. Bad then went to worse for Cornwall as Chris Fuca saw a pass intercepted and Royle ran in under the posts unopposed. Johnson kicked the conversion to make it 22-6 to Lancashire.
Cornwall hit back in the 37th minute when a catch-and-drive move resulted in a penalty and some quick thinking from Neilson Webber saw him take a quick tap and cross the try line. Thirlby added the extra two points to make it 22-11 at the half.
Cornwall came out fired up after the break and, following a period of sustained pressure, were awarded a penalty try in the 48th minute. Thirlby again did the business from the kicking tee, and it was game on.
Some indecision from Thirlby on his own 22 led to a penalty which Johnson slotted, but the Redruth player soon made amends with a penalty of his own after 65 minutes to bring Cornwall within four points at 25-21.
Johnson then kicked a drop goal to take Lancashire 28-21 ahead, but with six minutes left on the clock Lewis Vinnicombe finished another excellent move to score a try in the right corner. Thirlby had a kick to bring the sides level, but lacked both distance and accuracy. But with just two points in it, Cornwall's comeback looked well and truly on.
A Ben Rath try put paid to any hopes of that, though, and Johnson's conversion made it 35-26 with very little time remaining. And so Cornwall's dream of sending their hordes of black and gold-clad fans home happy was over for another year.
See below for the 'live blog' of Cornwall's big day at Twickenham.
Update: full time at Twickenham. Cornwall 26, Lancashire 35. It's all over, but what a magnificent effort from Cornwall and their army of fans.
Update: Cornwall 26, Lancashire 35. Coverted try for Lancashire and surely game over with a minute remaining.
Update: Cornwall 26, Lancashire 28. Vinnicombe with the try but despair as Thirlby misses the conversion. 3 minutes remaining
Update: Just minutes remaining now. Can Cornwall find that elusive try and conversion? Support has been amazing from the thousands of travelling Cornish fans.
Update: Cornwall 21, Lancashire 25. Thirlby kicks over a penalty with the help of the upright. 64 played.
Update: Cornwall 18, Lancashire 25. Johnson with the penalty for Lancashire on 62 minutes.
Update: Cornwall 18, Lancashire 22. Penalty try which Thirlby converts. It's game on at Twickenham!
Update: No try for Lancashire. Let off for Cornwall. Could that be the turning point?
Update: Cornwall get the second half under way.
Update: half time at Twickenham and it's Cornwall 11, Lancashire 22. Still all to play for.
Update: Cornwall 11, Lancashire 22. Cornish All Blacks' Nielsen Webber with the try, but Thirlby misses the conversion.
Update: Cornwall 6, Lancashire 22. Royle scores his second try after intercepting a pass. Converted.
Update: Cornwall 6, Lancashire 15. Dominic Moon scores a try for Lancashire.
Update: Cornwall 6, Lancashire 10. Paul Thirlby makes amends for missed penalty by converting his next effort.
Update: Cornwall 3, Lancashire 10. Nick Royle with the try and Chris Johnson converts.
Update: Cornwall 3, Lancashire 3. Chris Johnson with the penalty for Lancashire.
Update: Cornwall 3, Lancashire 0. Paul Thirlby just clears the bar with a penalty. Great start.
Update: We are under way at Twickenham.
Update: There were 60,000 here for the England game, but unfortunately nowhere near that for the cup final now.
Update: And here's the Lancashire team:
15 Sean Taylor (Preston Grasshoppers) 14 Nick Royle (Vale of Lune) 13 Chris Briers (Fylde) 12 Jack Ward (Preston Grasshoppers) 11 Ben Rath (Fylde) 10 Chris Johnson (Fylde) 9 Steve Collins (Sedgley Park); 1 Dan Birchall (Fylde) 2 Jon Matthews (Otley) 3 Simon Griffiths (Fylde) 4 Paul Arnold (Fylde) 5 Louis McGowan (Sedgley Park) (Captain) 6 Jon Nugent (Stade Dijon) 7 Steve McGinnis (Fylde) 8 Dominic Moon (Preston Grasshoppers)
Replacements - 16 Pete Altham (Fylde) 17 Gareth Gore (Preston Grasshoppers) 18 Phil Mills (Preston Grasshoppers) 19 Evan Stewart (Fylde) 20 Philip Baines (Preston Grasshoppers) 21 Tom Webb (Fylde) 22 Andrew Riley (Sedgley Park)
Update: Here's how Cornwall line up:
15. Jake Murphy, 14. Richard Bright (both Cornish All Blacks), 13. Steve Johns (Coventry), 12. Neilsen Webber (Cornish All Blacks), 11. Tom Notman, 10. Paul Thirlby, 9. Greg Goodfellow; 1. Darren Jacques, 2. Richard Brown, 3. Craig Williams, 4. Damian Cook (all Redruth), 5. Ben Hilton (capt) (Cornish All Blacks), 6. Chris Fuca (Redruth), 7. Sam Hocking (Unattached), 8. Ashley Lawton (Camborne)
Replacements – 16. Neil Turner, 17. John Drew, 18. Lewis Vinnecombe, 19. Luke Collins (all Redruth), 20. Tom Rawlings (Cornish All Blacks), 21. Matt Shepherd (St.Austell), 22. Steve Perry (Unattached)
Update: It's finished England 40, Barbarians 12 at Twickenham. But next it's the game all Cornish rugby fans have been waiting for, Cornwall v Lancashire. 30 minutes until kick off.
Update: Less than an hour to go before Cornwall take on Lancashire in the Bill Beaumont Cup final. Kick off is at 3.15pm.
In the meantime both sets of fans are enjoying England v Barbarians. England leading 40-0 with ten minutes remaining.
We should get a glimpse of the Cornwall squad warming up shortly after the England game.
Update: England and Barbarians are under way at Twickenham and around this magnificent stadium you can see pockets of Black & Gold. What a day this is for Cornish rugby. And the game hasn't even started yet!
Update: CORNWALL'S army of supporters taking in the atmosphere at Twickenham, in and outside the ground.
And, of course, they are joined by England and Barbarians fans ahead of the international which kicks off at 1pm.
What a day for rugby. Can Cornwall bring the Bill Beaumont Cup home for the first time since 1999?
Kick off is at 3.15pm.
Remember to keep up to date with all the latest news with our Twitter feed below.
Update: THE wait is almost over and in a few short hours' time Cornwall will be walking out at Twickenham for the final of the Bill Beaumont Cup to face Lancashire.
Thousands of Duchy fans set off early this morning for this afternoon's big game, which kicks off at 3.15pm after England's game against Barbarians. And it promises to be quite an occasion for the county as they bid to win the cup for the first time since 1999.
You can keep up to date with all the latest news in the run up, during and after today's cup final via this live blog.Tweets from @BillSobey/live-from-twickenham
Cornwall head coach Dave `Benji` Thomas will lead the Black & Gold into battle for the last time on Sunday as his team take on Lancashire in the Bill Beaumont Cup Final at Twickenham (3.15pm).
Cornwall, still buoyed by last weekend`s epic victory against reigning County champions Hertfordshire, will travel to the capital looking to end a barren spell of fourteen years in the competition since they last won the trophy.
Their last success came in 1999 against Gloucestershire but since then Sunday`s opponents Lancashire have turned Twickenham into their second home.
The Red Rose County boast a total of 21 final victories in the tournament including five in the last decade. They have contested the last four finals with their winning run only halted last year by Hertfordshire and their head coach Mark Nelson knows that Cornwall will pose a formidable challenge to his team this year.
He said: "This is going to be a big challenge, certainly with the atmosphere that is going to be generated by a big travelling support. They are a very physical, forward oriented side, it's going to be a full-blooded affair."
Cornwall expect to take a big following to London for the game and there has been a huge effort by their supporters this week to secure tickets for a match being staged immediately after England play the Barbarians. Several coaches have been filled to take fans from the Duchy to the game and Benji Thomas expects an emotional day as he ends his 38 year association with the Cornwall team.
"The players realise it's not only their day, it's the supporters' day as well and they really want Cornwall to succeed for the crowd," Thomas said. "I feel very proud that I'm associated with a group of people who are very single-minded, very determined and work really hard.
Cornwall were delighted to hear in mid-week that inspirational skipper Ben Hilton had escaped censure at an RFU Disciplinary hearing and is free to play. However they did lose Launceston No8 Barrie-John Chapman to an lengthy ban at the same hearing and his place on Sunday will be taken by Camborne`s Ashley Lawton.
With wing Rhodri McAtee dropping out the only other change to the starting line-up sees Redruth`s Tom Notman recalled. Steve Perry and Luke Collins have been drafted onto the bench.
Lancashire will be led by Sedgley Park lock Louis McGowan as they look to recover from a surprising defeat against Cheshire in their final group fixture last weekend.
They have also made changes to their line-up recalling Fylde duo wing Ben Rath and flanker Evan Stewart following a successful England Counties Under-20 tour to Georgia. The vastly experienced Paul Arnold also returns to their second row.
Cornwall: 15. Jake Murphy, 14. Richard Bright (both Cornish All Blacks), 13. Steve Johns (Coventry), 12. Neilsen Webber (Cornish All Blacks), 11. Tom Notman, 10. Paul Thirlby, 9. Greg Goodfellow; 1. Darren Jacques, 2. Richard Brown, 3. Craig Williams, 4. Damian Cook (all Redruth), 5. Ben Hilton (capt) (Cornish All Blacks), 6. Chris Fuca (Redruth), 7. Sam Hocking (Unattached), 8. Ashley Lawton (Camborne). Replacements – 16. Neil Turner, 17. John Drew, 18. Lewis Vinnecombe, 19. Luke Collins (all Redruth), 20. Tom Rawlings (Cornish All Blacks), 21. Matt Shepherd (St.Austell), 22. Steve Perry (Unattached)
Lancashire: 15 Sean Taylor (Preston Grasshoppers) 14 Nick Royle (Vale of Lune) 13 Chris Briers (Fylde) 12 Jack Ward (Preston Grasshoppers) 11 Ben Rath (Fylde) 10 Chris Johnson (Fylde) 9 Steve Collins (Sedgley Park); 1 Dan Birchall (Fylde) 2 Jon Matthews (Otley) 3 Simon Griffiths (Fylde) 4 Paul Arnold (Fylde) 5 Louis McGowan (Sedgley Park) (Captain) 6 Jon Nugent (Stade Dijon) 7 Steve McGinnis (Fylde) 8 Dominic Moon (Preston Grasshoppers). Replacements - 16 Pete Altham (Fylde) 17 Gareth Gore (Preston Grasshoppers) 18 Phil Mills (Preston Grasshoppers) 19 Evan Stewart (Fylde) 20 Philip Baines (Preston Grasshoppers) 21 Tom Webb (Fylde) 22 Andrew Riley (Sedgley Park)
