National League Three South West

Cornish All Blacks 22

Bromsgrove 18

By Suzanne Cleave

HARRY Dawe scored a try two minutes from time as The Cornish All Blacks secured their second National League Three South West victory of the season by beating Bromsgrove 22-18 at Polson Bridge.

But the Launceston squad did not make it easy for themselves, and could have easily lost the match in the final stages against a side who played all but two minutes of the game with 14 men.

It was a poor start for Bromsgrove, who lost their number eight Christopher MacGregor two minutes in. Referee Ben Chadwick showed him a red card for punching.

The home side took advantage of this and scored two tries in the next 15 minutes, the first scored by skipper Lloyd Duke, converted by Fraser Honey and the second unconverted try by Fred Bulut.

The Cornish All Blacks played some good rugby, but the squad became slightly complacent and let their game slip.

Bromsgrove got on the scoreboard, with a drop goal and a penalty, both scored by James Upton.

The score deficit was reduced even further when Bromsgrove’s Joshua Holt went over for a try, making the score 12-11.

The half-time team talk perked the All Blacks up, with Honey scoring a try almost as soon as the teams were back on the pitch.

But it didn’t continue, and the home side allowed Bromsgrove back into the contest as a dropped ball was picked up by Samuel Bastock who touched down for the visitors, the try converted by Upton, took them into a one-point lead.

The pressure was on the home side, and at times, the game was not pretty.

The Cornish All Blacks were given one more chance to pull it back and thankfully managed to, as after sustained pressure and some excellent away defence, Launceston passed the ball down the line, setting Harry Dawe away to go over in the corner for a well deserved try.

Leading 22-18, the Cornish All Blacks had to hold on to their lead in the dying minutes of the game. But right to the end, Bromsgrove battled on. There was a tussle on the try line and the home side conceded a couple of penalties. Bromsgrove were within a metre of scoring, but possession was lost and the All Blacks were able to kick the ball out of danger, signalling the end of the game.

No one breathed a bigger sigh of relief at the end of the game than Cornish All Blacks’ head of rugby, Jimmy Tucker, who said: "I feel we did everything we did to try and lose the match. It was a match we should have won comfortably. We played well for bits and pieces of the match but we let them in. If you’ve got to defend you’re up against it constantly.

"I will give the players credit. They dug in really well in the final five minutes. It was a good win but a game we could have easily lost. They dug in when they needed to. We had the power to lift the game when we switched on, but we let It slip a bit. Bromsgrove got into the game and they starved us of the ball. When you’re chasing it around you aren’t in control of it. Playing against 14 players is always more of a challenge than it would appear. But at the end of the season you don’t remember how close the score was, but you do remember five points."

Cornish All Blacks

Kneebone, Morris, Westren, Faamatuainu, Dawe, Honey (Theobald 47, Honey 59) Sandercock, Hurdwell, Bulut, Knight, Parish, Duke J, Uglow (Merritt 24), Duke L, Williams (Uglow 54, Williams 75).

Replacement not used: Hocking.

Tries: Duke L (5) Bulut (10), Honey (41), Dawe (78)

Conv: Honey (5)

Pens: N/A

Bromsgrove

Holt (Michel 78), Michel (Guildford 14), Bastock, Barwick, Bache, Upton, Whiteman, Green, Atkin, Malings, Arnold, Field, Antoniou-Papas (Tranter 59), Wilson, MacGregor.

Tries: Holt (28), Bastock (53)

Conv: Upton (53)

Pen: Upton (23)

Drop goal: Upton (17)

Half time: 12-11

Full time: 22-18

Referee: Ben Chadwick

Man of the match: Lloyd Duke

Attendance: 343