Saturday, February 29

South West Premier

Barnstaple 13

Cornish All Blacks 6

THE Cornish All Blacks put in a battling performance before being forced to settle for a valuable losing bonus point as they were beaten 13-6 by Barnstaple in dreadful conditions at Pottington Road.

The North Devon club only gave the game the go ahead following an 8am pitch inspection on the morning of the game, and led 6-0 at half-time thanks to two Haydn Lidstone penalties.

Launceston enjoyed the majority of possession and reduced the lead to three thanks to Dan Pearce’s penalty, but Josh Davie’s try gave Barum breathing space.

However Pearce’s long-range penalty did keep the visitors interested and more importantly give them the least they deserved, a point to their tally.

Joint head coaches Ian Goldsmith and Ryan Westren made three changes from the 21-15 victory at Okehampton three weeks earlier with Rikki Bentham preferred at prop to Rory Cinnamond, while Dan Goldsmith made a rare start in the second-row in place of the unavailable Tom Bottoms.

In the backs, Westren failed to recover from a serious ankle injury sustained at Okehampton and was replaced at inside-centre by Shaun Crawford.

Launceston played against the wind in the first-half and kept the ball superbly in the mud to frustrate the hosts, although the energy conditions coupled with the mud, occasional shower and Barnstaple’s excellent defence, meant finding a way through was incredibly tough.

However, despite the All Blacks enjoying the majority of ball, it was the hosts who led 6-0 at half-time thanks to penalties inside ten minutes and on the half-hour, even with lock Matt Grohl having to spend ten minutes in the sin-bin.

The second-half saw the visitors continue from where they left off with the scrum in particular causing the hosts problems. Launceston had a scrum on close to the home line and felt they should have had a penalty try awarded, but it wasn’t given.

They did eventually get on the board 15 minutes into the half after Pearce slotted home a penalty.

Barnstaple have only lost once at home all season and showed why with ten minutes to go as replacement Josh Davie bulldozed his way over from close-range. Lidstone added the extras once more for a 13-3 lead.

Launceston had won five of their last six fixtures to give them a slight buffer above the bottom two, and they added another point to their tally with five minutes remaining through Pearce’s superb penalty from halfway.

However, the experienced home pack held their nerve to see the game out and go 21 points clear at the top following the postponement between Weston-super-Mare and Maidenhead.

For the Cornishmen, it was a point well-gained ahead of the visit of bottom side Bracknell, who remain in with a chance of survival after easing past Ivybridge on Saturday.

Player/coach Ryan Westren said: “We kept the ball for long periods, similar to Okehampton, and it limited their ability to get on the ball. Barnstaple are a top end outfit, so we were happy going into half-time 6-0 down against the wind. We thought we’d come out and use the conditions in the second-half but it doesn’t always work like that. We had some good pressure right on their line which we failed to capitalise on, and we needed to take that really.

“As the game went on, their experienced pack came into their own. They had one chance to score all game and they took it, which is why they’re at the top of the league.”

Despite that, Westren was keen to take the positives.

He said: “Performance -wise we were right up there. We executed the gameplan how we wanted to, but just came up short. But we’ve gone to the league leaders and given them an almighty scare on their own patch.”

Westren was pleased with his players.

He said: “We were workmanlike across the board, and I couldn’t pick faults in anyone. Everyone made their carries and tackles but I’d like to give a special mention to the back three of Martin Kneebone, Dan Pearce and Alfie Lang. We’ve worked hard lately with them on some stuff we felt needed improving and they’ve taken it on board and put it into practice, so credit to them.”

Westren admitted the weather had a massive impact, but praised both teams for their efforts.

He said: “The conditions were absolutely awful, it was like a paddy field. On first impression the pitch looked alright, but it was incredibly wet underfoot. They were probably the worst conditions we’ve played in all year, but both sides did as well as they could and I thought it was really good advert for South West Premier rugby.”

Attention quickly turns to the pivotal home game with Bracknell, and Westren knows it’s vital.

He said: “It’s a big game for both sides. Every game now for them is effectively win or bust as they can’t afford to let the gap get too big.

“But they had a fantastic result at the weekend, one which many people wouldn’t have expected. That means we’re probably going to have to be even better than we have been, so we’re under no illusions how big it is. We’ll prepare accordingly and make sure we’re ready to go come 3pm on Saturday.”

A last-gasp Sam Dunks try gave Bracknell a 15-13 victory in the reverse fixture back in November, and Westren admits the disappointment of that game will be used in the build-up.

He said: “Part of the motivation will be that we felt we should have won up there as we had lots of chances but failed to capitalise. We felt we shouldn’t have allowed to get it to the last minute so we have a wrong to right. We can’t let that happen twice, so when we get opportunities this weekend, we take them.

“We know that in their position they’re not going to go away, as opposed to a mid-table club who might not have a lot to play for.

“The last 20 minutes will be the most important part of the game, so we need to make sure we play properly for the whole 80 minutes. If you give a side a glimmer of hope they can cling on to that and that can make life very difficult.”

Although Westren is likely to be sidelined for the rest of the season, he expects everyone else to be available.

He said: “Going into this week we should be back at full-strength bar myself. Tom Bottoms will be available and it looks like everyone else got through Barnstaple unscathed, so it’ll be a similar squad to Saturday.”

Cornish All Blacks —

Lang, Pearce, Sandercock, Crawford, Kneebone, Coles, Collings; Bentham, Bulut, Thomas, Goldsmith, Clarke, Lightfoot, L Duke (captain), Rowley.

Replacements: Cinnamond, Bartlett, Edwards.

Tries: N/A.

Convs: N/A.

Pens: Pearce 2.