CAMELFORD earned their first win of 2020 as they edged past Redruth Albany at Lane End, thanks to a late penalty from skipper Dan Stuckey.

Camelford had managed to get together a full 17-man squad for this important game as injuries and illness had ceased, allowing several players to return.

The first-half saw Camelford head up the hill, with this though Camelford were the first to draw points after an infringement gave fly-half Stuckey a chance at three points, which he duly converted.

Redruth showed that they were not gonna lie down and take things easy. The pressure of the slope soon began to tell and a mix up at scrum time allowed the Albany scrum-half to dot down under the posts, after which he also converted making the score 7-3.

This only served to rally the North Cornwall side who began to show glimpses of what they have been working on. Some strong forward work, especially at scrum time, saw them camp out in the Redruth half. Time and again Camelford knocked on the door only to be pushed back by good defence, but the finally the pressure told. A well-set ruck saw the ball get passed through the hands leaving debutant Eddie Lennon with one player to beat to score his first try for his new club and the Camelford’s first score of 2020. The angle was too wide for Stuckey to convert, leaving the score at 8-7.

Once again the game swayed back into Redruth’s hands and an infringement left the scrum-half with and easy three pointer to make it 10-8, which he duly converted. Redruth continued to test the home side and after eight minutes passed with Camelford soaking up pressure, a well-worked overlap saw Redruth run in another try. The conversion was missed.

The second-half began and Camelford immediately went on the attack which continued for the first ten minutes, but still mistakes stopped them scoring points. A penalty was awarded and the ever-observant Ryan Jones saw an opportunity and showed his quality with a mazy run down the left flank, beating two players on his way to the line out wide. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 15-13.

The game could have gone either way and both teams went about there business, with Camelford time and again attacking, through the back three of Ollie Plummer, Jack Buckley and Lennon, who made good ground on every attack.

Although Redruth’s resolute defending continued to stop the onslaught, Camelford came close twice to scoring a try. First, a well set-up rolling maul pushed Jamie Belsey over try line only for it have been held up, before a great run by veteran outside-centre Peter Thorne set Plummer free, only for Plummer to be stopped by a fantastic covering tackle. It didn’t seem like it was going be Camelford’s day when a scrum was going towards the try line only for the ball to pop out. ‘The Ford’ pressured again, pushing for that all important try. In the last minute, a deliberate knock-on gifted Camelford a penalty right in front of the posts. The decision was made to kick for goal and Stuckey stepped up to the mark to give Camelford the narrowest of victories.

Chairman Martyn Baker said: “Many Camelford players could have won the man of the match award. Mentions go to Ryan Jones, Ian Boundy, Aaron Tharme, Ollie Plummer and Peter Thorne, but in the end it went to Debutant Eddie Lennon who had a very impressive first game, making massive tackles and fantastic runs.”