Saturday, January 26

Tribute South West One (West)

Cornish All Blacks 22

MARTIN Kneebone scored twice in the first-half as the Cornish All Blacks bounced back from successive derby defeats to beat Teignmouth 22-8 at Bitton Park.

Losses against near neighbours Okehampton and St Ives, coupled with a pre-Christmas reversal at Newent, meant that they had relinquished top spot.

However, despite again naming an unfamiliar side and going behind inside two minutes, the All Blacks showed plenty of character and resilience to build a 12-8 lead at the break before tries from Lloyd Duke and Tom Sandercock ensured a bonus point.

Joint head coaches Ian Goldsmith and Ryan Westren made just the one change from the 13-10 defeat to St Ives seven days earlier as Brandon Rowley replaced the injured Torin Clarke at number eight.

Clarke was again joined on the casualty list by Westren, Adam Collings, Will Morton and Marc Williams while Andy Knight was unavailable due to work.

Conditions were tough from the beginning and the third-bottom hosts, who went into the game four points adrift of safety, started the better once the visitors chose to play into a strong wind in the first-half.

Inside two minutes they were ahead. After the All Blacks received the kick-off, they were penalised at a ruck and Teignmouth chose to kick for the corner. After plenty of pick and gos, Faolan Lidstone was the man to score, although he missed the conversion.

Teignmouth dominated possession without creating too much and the All Blacks made it 5-5 midway through the half.

Tom Sandercock caught a high ball in his 22 and quickly tapped and went before the ball was worked out to the left-wing for Martin Kneebone to run in from 40 metres.

Kneebone has enjoyed an excellent season and grabbed another score on the half hour as he made a darting run off the wing to break through contact and have a clear 30-metre run to the line. Glenn Coles slotted the extras for a 12-5 cushion.

Lidstone added a penalty before the half-time whistle but considering the wind and territorial disadvantage, the All Blacks would have been pleased.

Despite the wind disadvantage, Teignmouth dominated the opening exchanges of the second-half but Launceston soon started to take control.

Mitchell Hawken came on for Greg Thomas in the front-row for his debut on the hour and he made an instant impact.

He showed great strength to carry the ball close to the line and he was about to be held up, until skipper Lloyd Duke ripped the ball out of his hands to crash over from close range.

Bonus points are going to be crucial in the All Blacks’ quest to catch Okehampton in the title race and they ensured they grabbed a maximum five-point haul in the latter stages.

The ball came loose in the Teignmouth half which allowed inside-centre Shaun Crawford to pick the ball up and run into the 22. As he was about to be tackled, he cleverly offloaded to the supporting Sandercock to do the rest and put them 22-8 in front.

The last five minutes were played in biblical-like rain which meant both sides were looking forward to the final whistle and when it came, the pitch was almost flooded.

Okehampton’s 15-12 win over Newent meant the All Blacks had reduced their lead at the top of the table to just a point with eight games to go.

Skipper Lloyd Duke was delighted to get back to winning ways.

He said: “It was a proper game of rugby and in fairness to Teignmouth they made us work really hard.

“After three defeats in four it was important we turned the ship. Teignmouth might be third bottom but they’re fighting for their lives at the minute which makes them hard opposition to face!”

Westren echoed his skipper’s statements, adding: “It was a pretty efficient performance in what were tough conditions that worsened throughout the course of game. We managed the first-half against the elements really well and that put is in a position to control the game on our terms. That’s exactly what happened and we came away with the full five points.”

Duke was full of praise for a couple of his team-mates.

He said: “Mitch (Hawken) did really well. Last week he was on the bench but didn’t come on. But he came on for Greg (Thomas) with about half an hour to go. He’s small but has got really good strength and he carried and tackled really well. So all in all, it was a really good debut.

“Aiden also made his debut last week and kept it going in a position he’s not really used to on the wing. This week he played the last ten minutes in the back-row which is his natural position and he showed his strength in the contact area and showed what a valuable player he is!”

The All Blacks have a week off before they welcome third-placed Bridgwater & Albion to Polson Bridge next Saturday, and Westren admits he’s undecided whether having to wait 14 days for another game is a good thing.

He said: “The plus side of it is it gives us an opportunity to get some of the walking wounded back and increase competition for places. But obviously we have just got back to winning ways and it would be nice to build some momentum to take into the next few games and the then into the back end/business end of the season.”

Cornish All Blacks —

Pearce, Jacob, Edwards, Crawford, Kneebone, Coles, Sandercock; Bentham, Bulut, Thomas, J Duke, Goldsmith, Lightfoot, L Duke (captain), Rowley

Replacements: Jenkins, Hawken, Mulberry

Tries: Kneebone 2, L Duke, Sandercock

Convs: Coles

Pens: N/A

Cornish All Blacks’ man-of-the-match: Martin Kneebone