National League Three South West

Cornish All Blacks 8

Bournemouth 7

THE Cornish All Blacks are now just four points from safety in National League Three South West after an 8-7 victory against Bournemouth at a rain-lashed Polson Bridge.

The All Blacks found themselves 7-5 down at the break despite debutant Brandon Rowley’s try.

But through a brilliant scrum and fine defence, the home side hung in there to win the match in the second-half through winger Martin Kneebone’s penalty.

The All Blacks made three changes from their agonising defeat at Old Reds a fortnight previously, bringing in Brandon Rowley at flanker which meant Greg Thomas was forced to play as an emergency prop while Greg Loydall and Reuben Edwards returned in the backs for Harry Brewerton and Chris Morris.

Both sides tested each other in the first 15 minutes of the game, but with rain and strong winds causing huge problems, there wasn’t a lot of excitement for the 475 in attendance.

The pitch was starting to turn into a mud bath, making it increasingly difficult to see which players were which, however the home side were defending well to keep the Dorset side at bay.

The All Blacks soon upped the pace and it was Rowley, making his debut for the club, who went over for the first try on 36 minutes.

But two minutes later, the visitors took the lead, with a Robbie Boyd try, that was converted by Scott Chislett.

The Cornish All Blacks started the second-half on the defensive, but two yellow cards for Bournemouth’s Jack Hennings resulted in the visitors having to play the final 25 minutes with 14 men.

The All Blacks took back the lead on 57 minutes after Martin Kneebone slotted a penalty between the posts.

The game turned very stop start, but with play in Bournemouth’s 22, the All Blacks just had to put a stop to Bournemouth scoring again.

Three minutes into injury time, Bournemouth conceded another penalty and as the ball was kicked out, the referee’s final whistle was blown to bring the curtain down on one of the most important victories at Polson Bridge in years.

Head of rugby, Jimmy Tucker was delighted with the performance and the result.

Tucker said: "It was a good performance by the whole team. Special mention must go to the scrum and in particular Greg Thomas who made his first appearance at prop and he did an excellent job.

"I was never totally at ease, being just one point ahead, but I was confident we would grind the result out, which is effectively what we did. They didn’t try to play too much rugby, which could have cost us. Thankfully we kept it fairly conservative. We didn’t concede a penalty in the second-half which shows we were well disciplined. All we could do today is turn up and firstly beat Bournemouth. Any chance of getting a bonus point was quashed when we saw the conditions, but we did what we could and got the victory."

Skipper Lloyd Duke was equally delighted with the result, their fifth win in seven starts since the turn of the year, and was especially delighted with the work of his front five.

Duke said: “It was a good win in the conditions. A decision or a mistake could have swung it either way and thankfully we got the points. Bournemouth are a good team but we just about deserved it.

“We made slightly less errors and our defence was just outstanding. We spent about half an hour on our try line in the first-half but we managed to knick five turnovers and that was probably where the game was won besides our scrum.

“In 2017, I think our scrum has been better than all of the teams we’ve played. Having a solid set piece is vital in rugby and it seems like we’ve got that now, which is great.

“The front five really set the tone and gave us a big platform while Brandon Rowley on his debut was also great.

“The game wasn’t particularly suited to the backs but I thought Ryan Westren was also really good, he made a couple of excellent runs for us and that was exactly what we needed.”

The All Blacks make the long trip to Berkshire on Saturday to take on play-off chasing Bracknell and Duke is expecting an equally tough game.

Duke added: “On Saturday we’re going to need to play equally as well. Bracknell were really good when they came down here and also have a really good pack.

“They have a really strong mauling game so it’s important that we deal with that, but if the forwards are on it then we’ll have a great chance of winning.

“I expect the conditions to be fairly similar to last week with the weather being the way it is. But we know if we do the basics well then we have a good chance.

“We’ve done well on the road recently and we could have won at the league Old Reds in our last away game so we’re looking to get the points.”

Cornish All Blacks

Sandercock, Kneebone, Westren, Faamatuainu, Edwards, Loydall, Stevens, Bentham, Bulut, Thomas, Williams (Crabb 59), Duke J, Rowley (Osborne 59), Duke L, McDonald.

Replacement not used: Snell.

Try: Rowley (36)

Conv: N/A

Pen: Kneebone (57)

Bournemouth

Boyd, Everett-Bolter, Gleadowe, Chislett, Roberts, Davis (Jeffes 35, Davis 58), Richardson, Firetto, Treloar (Spiller 37), Kenneally, Hennings, McDonald (Treloar 58), Manning.

Replacement not used: Soden.

Try: Boyd (38)

Conv: Chislett (38)

Half-time: 5-7

Full-time: 8-7

Referee: Brad Bignell

Man of the match: Greg Thomas (Cornish All Blacks)

Attendance: 475

Sin bin: Hennings (yellow card 25 and 55 - then red card)