Hayle 16, Pirates Amateurs 9
HAYLE were good value for their third Cornwall & Devon League victory of the season as they came out on top in a full-blooded local derby at the Memorial Park on Saturday.
The Lions always looked the stronger side but were made to work extremely hard by a brave Amateurs side hit by the absence of several players due to injuries, stag weekends and county commitments.
Indeed it was the Amateurs who made a good start and opened the scoring with a penalty in the opening few minutes as Hayle, playing against a strong wind, found it difficult to get out of their own 22.
Will Banks converted and followed this up with another successful penalty attempt five minutes later.
The Pirates increased their lead on 18 minutes with a drop goal from full back Trev Dugdale, but the Lions reduced the deficit seven minutes later when Martin Strick finally put Hayle on the score sheet with a penalty following some good forward play.
The only try of the game came on 32 minutes when left wing Rob Goodman chipped through to touch down and Strick converted to make the score 10-9.
Late in the first half Strick took another penalty to extend his side's lead to 13-9. It took 22 minutes for Hayle to stretch the lead and the trusty boot of Strick converted the penalty.
With ten minutes to go Hayle were reduced to 14 men, but despite their numerical disadvantage, Hayle came close to scoring a second try when Goodman ran from his own 22 but was tackled just inches from the line.
Hayle continued to keep the visitors penned back in the closing stages and held on fairly comfortably to their seven point lead.
Another fine display from the Hayle pack was cemented by a determined set of backs who afforded the visitors few scoring chances and for all their valiant efforts, the Amateurs could have few complaints with the result.
This Saturday Hayle travel to Plymouth Barbarians while the Amateurs host Liskeard-Looe (both games 2.30pm).
Hayle: A Strick, J Nicholls, B Pow, P Tonkin, R Spears, A Thornton, M Rashleigh (c), T Matthews, J Edwards, M Strick, R Goodman, J Cameron, D Arnull, T Daniels, R Cutter. Reps: S Murray, A Benton, D Miles.
Pirates Amateurs: T Dugdale, S Osborne, B Eddy, A Snell, H Hudson, W Banks, S Stevens, J Barrett, S Heath (c), M O'Leary, B Brittain, M Nicholas, D Toolan, R Stanley, K Brownfield. Reps (all used): G Sullivan, J Lugg, D Lawrance.
CORNWALL ONE
Helston 15, St Just 3
HELSTON returned to winning ways with a gutsy performance to defeat bottom side St Just in Tribute Cornwall One on Saturday.
Straight from the kick-off the home side stormed into the St Just 22 and when the visiting back line strayed offside, full-back Calvin Warwick stepped up to slot the three points.
But it was to take until the stroke of half-time before flanker Harry Bardsley broke through to deliver a telling pass to allow Ross Williams to cross the line and he was then able to head towards the post to allow Warwick to slot the extra points to give Helston a half-time lead of 10-0.
St Just started the second half strongly and with the wind and the slope really fancied their chances.
But St Just's only points came from a solitary penalty from Richards mid way through the half.
Helston rounded off the scoring with the last move of the match when fly half Lee Hunter broke up field and sent Warwick away along the touchline to score in the corner and deny St Just a bonus point in defeat.
St Ives Colts 10, Redruth Colts 24
REDRUTH bounced back from going behind early on to beat their St Ives counterparts in an entertaining game at Alexandra Road.
St Ives opened the scoring with a try from flanker Todd Prisk, after he caught the Reds' defence by surprise with a quick tap penalty.
It was not a good day for the kickers, with the blustery conditions making life very difficult, and the conversion was missed.
Five minutes later, Redruth were back on even terms with a try, and they added another after 25 minutes to make it 10-5.
Some good play by the young Hakes saw them spend long periods deep inside the Redruth half, but without any points to show for it, and there were no further scores before the break.
The second half was only five minutes old when St Ives centre Ethan Phillips found himself in space and crashed over to level the scores at 10-10.
St Ives did well to keep Redruth out in the action that followed, but in the last 10 minutes, the visitors broke through twice, with both tries under the posts to provide simple conversions, to put the game beyond St Ives.
St Ives: McClary, Short, Gibson, Phillips, Bassett, Narbett, Rouncefield, James Bishop, Joel Bishop, Hill, Cashmore, Kesty, Prisk, Joel Ninnes, Parton (capt). Replacements all used: Leach, Morris, Farmer.
More youth rugby, page 75.
