Saturday, February 8

Kernow League

(Group Four)

Veor 2 39

CAMELFORD fell to a third defeat in five matches in Group Four of the Cornwall Cup as they lost 39-5 at home to Veor Seconds.

The hosts have seen a revival since Christmas with numbers building week on week.

A squad of 19 was available for the first ever meeting with Veor Seconds, which allowed them to experiment with the side. This meant that Peter Thorne moved from outside-centre to fly-half and captain Dan Stuckey moved to the wing with new boy Eddie Lennon playing at 13. Movement in the back row also saw Ian Boundy playing at number eight.

In the past Camelford have been guilty of slow starts to matches, often letting in two or three scores before rallying to the occasion, but with the new-look ‘the Ford’ slowly taking shape, they got off to an uncharacteristic fast and furious style start.

Camelford gained possession and a great running line by Lennon saw him waltz through a scrambling Veor defence and heading for the try line, but was denied by a fantastic last-ditch tackle by the full-back.

Camelford quickly secured the ball and another backs move saw them get within five metres of the try line and with the forwards then taking on pick and goes, but the ball was ripped from their grasp and a scrum was called. Camelford again looked to dominate this area and with the scrum going forward, Veor made sure they got rid of the ball quickly and finally found some room using a slow reaction from Camelford to work an overlap and score the first points against the run of play.

The first-half continued in the same vain with the North Cornwall side pressuring, only to then lose the ball and Veor grasp the chance of a counter attack try.

Camelford’s front three of Aaron Tharme, Martyn Baker and Tom Arkell where busy in the loose, all making ground with each run, but on 20 minutes an injury to the Veor prop saw scrums become uncontested, taking away Camelford’s main weapon. With this, Martyn Baker left the field to be replaced by the returning Calum Wilkins to add some pace to the pack.

And still the ebb and flow of the well fought match continued with attacks by both sides. Twice Camelford came close to scoring only for the final attack to be disrupted and Veor gain possession. Veor managed to run in another two tries before half-time, which were both converted to take the score to 21-0.

Changes at half-time saw the returning Rob Hawken replace Dave Evans at blindside-flanker, and Lee Robinson enter the action at nine with Ben Palmer moving to 15, and Luke Schofield came on at hooker replacing Aaron Tharme. Although rolling subs meant every player came back on.

The second-half started and with the hill against them, Camelford began to struggle with fitness and Veor sensed that they could score more points. Throughout the half, Veor camped themselves in Camelford’s half and managed to run in three more tries, none of which were added to.

Under siege, Camelford also gave a penalty which was kicked well, but as with the Camelford of old things were not done, and they managed to gain some possession in the visitors half, and pressed for a score. Some good work at the lineout saw Camelford keep position and possession and after a few forwards drives saw the ball span wide, Thorne expertly drifted and offloaded to Mike Willshire, who managed to get the ball to man-of-the-match Lennon, who sprinted in for a well-deserved try. The kick was missed by Ben Palmer.

Five minutes later the whistle came down on a game where the score did not reflect the ebb and flow of the match, but had proved that ability to finish off moves is very important.

Camelford don’t play again until March 7 when they travel to Redruth Albany.

Camelford — L Palmer, Stuckey, Lennon, Willshire, Burton, Thorne, B Palmer; Tharme, Baker, Arkell, Belsey, Luxton, Evans, Dyson, Boundy.

Replacements: Schofield, Hawken, Wilkins, Robinson.

Tries: Lennon.

Convs: N/A.

Pens: N/A.

Camelford’s man-of-the-match: Eddie Lennon.