BLAYDON needed the losing bonus point to pull them clear of the relegation zone. It took 12 minutes of second half injury time for them to get it and then the touch down was certainly questionable; but that is rugby! It was not sparkling rugby on a fairly grey afternoon and the hosts should have put a lot more points on the board but the defeat at Crow Trees earlier in the season was avenged, writes Tony Randel.

It did not look as though it was going to be that way though when Blaydon winger and New Zealand 'Sevens' cap Brendon Daniel latched on to a good cross kick by fly half Nick Gandy to cross the line in the corner within the first minute. Full back Charles Rayner converted.

Blaydon had a chance to extend their lead when the Launceston front row were penalised for not binding correctly but Rayner's long range kick drifted wide.

Cornish All Black pressure was beginning to mount as they forced the visitors into conceding three penalties in quick succession. Two were very kickable but Adam Staniforth did not seem to be wearing his kicking boots. Handling errors also cost the home side points when they had set up real scoring chances. In fact the coach of the Under-9s who had played an entertaining pre-match game against Looe suggested that the Cornish All Blacks took a few lessons from the youngsters on how to catch the ball!

It took until just after the half hour for Launceston to score. A good attack that swung back and forth across the field with some accurate long passes gave Ryan Westren the chance to burst through the defence to score.

Although Blaydon surged back things were definitely turning in the Cornish All Blacks' favour. Nevertheless it took until the fourth minute of injury time for them to add to the points tally. Well taken lineout ball by Tom Skelding set the backs in motion again. Some good passes from Webb, Staniforth and Westren left Jon Fabian clear to cruise over the line unchallenged. Again Adam Staniforth missed the conversion but the hosts were ahead 10-7 at half time.

It did not stay that way for long. A series of penalty scrums in the Launceston 22 saw the visitors edging ever closer to the line until prop Rob Kelbraier was driven over. This time it was Rayner's turn to miss the conversion!

Launceston soon edged back into a slender lead when Staniforth at last landed a penalty – had he changed his boots at half time?

After the usual flurry of substitutions around the 60 minute mark Staniforth opened up the gap when Blaydon number seven, Will Welch, was sin-binned for very obviously handling in the ruck. The wheels were back on the Launceston chariot and just to drive home the point Ryan Westren went over for his second try after the forwards had done all the hard work. With the right boots on the Staniforth conversion sailed majestically between the uprights to make it 23-12 with ten minutes to go.

Cornish All Blacks tried desperately for the four try bonus and Blaydon were even more keen on narrowing the gap to less than seven points. Almost on the 80 minutes Ryan Westren went for a Ben Turner cross kick but although he touched the ball he failed to exert any downward pressure – no try.

Then injury time went on and on and on with Blaydon seeing light at the end of the tunnel. A very good maul drove for some 20m before number eight, Jason Smithson, 'touched down'. Rayner's successful conversion ended the game and got Blaydon the bonus point they so needed.

Next week at Cinderford will a tough one; the Forest Folk are tough and determined.

Scorers:

Cornish All Blacks; tries, Westren (2). Fabian; con, Staniforth; pens, Staniforth (2).

Blaydon; tries, Daniel, Kelbraier, Smithson; cons, Rayner (2)

Cornish All Blacks: Jon Fabian, Marc Dibble, Ryan Westren, Hamish Smales, Gary Kingdom, Adam Staniforth, Lewis Webb (Ben Turner 56), Keith Brooking (capt) (Jason Bolt 77), Darren Semmens (Glenn Cooper 56), Billy Moss, Tom Skelding, Bryn Jenkins, Glen Remnant, Tony Roques (Ben Collings 56) and Sam Hocking (Mike Rawlings 70).

Blaydon: Charles Rayner, Simon Barber, Martin Shaw, Adam Dehaty, Brendon Daniel, Nick Gandy (James Clark 73), Pete Phelan (Chris Clark 60), Rob Kelbraier, Ross Batty, James Isaacson (Alan Harrison 77), Stephen Trench, Dave Guthrie (capt), Keith Laughlin, Will Welch, and Alan Archibald (Jason Smithson 40).

Referee: Mr Nick Williams (RFU).