DAN Pearce scored with the last play of the game as the Cornish All Blacks beat Cullompton to maintain their unbeaten home record.

The All Blacks endured a sticky patch back in October but have now won three consecutive games to cement third spot.

Jimmy Tucker and his coaching staff were able to call on the services of props Rikki Bentham, who had been out for a couple of weeks and Greg Thomas, who had yet to play a minute of league rugby this season.

They replaced Rory Cinnamond and Ben Collins in the front row while Harry Dawe was recalled on the wing for Reuben Edwards who joined Cinnamond on the bench.

On a bitterly cold day with a swirling wind around, running rugby was never going to be an option.

Mid-table Cullompton, who had won promotion last term, were more than a match for the All Blacks as they used the wind to their advantage to continuously place accurate kicks into touch or in behind the home side.

Two penalties from Daniel Saunders meant they led 6-0 at half-time although they were left ruing the decision of referee Ellis Davis who eventually judged that Marc Williams had held the ball up with his chest after initially giving a try.

Both sides had made a number of handling errors in the opening 40 minutes but this time the Devon side were penalised twice in the space of two minutes at the breakdown, allowing Pearce to convert twice and bring the scores level at 6-6.

The home side carried more of an attacking threat in the second-half as both sides traded further penalties through Pearce and Sanders.

With six minutes left on the clock, the All Blacks went 12-9 down through another Sanders penalty and it looked like their unbeaten run at home was over.

However, they managed to regroup and camp themselves on the Cullompton line.

Despite the forwards smashing away at the red and black stripes, their seemed to be no way through.

However, the visitors had committed too many men to the breakdown and the ball was shifted out wide for Pearce, who had Edwards on the outside, to run into the corner and send the majority of the near 400 crowd home happy.

Despite not playing particularly well, skipper Lloyd Duke admitted that they were just delighted to get the job done.

He said: “It was a really good game to win considering we were nowhere near our best.

“Our error count was higher than it has been for a few weeks. “Cullompton were a pretty good team. As an all-round team, they put it everywhere. It was hard work, they ran the game very well.

“It’s a sign of a good team to win playing poorly and at the end of the day winning becomes a habit. To win so late and to make it three victories in a row feels great.

"The boys, to me, you can question most things but the size of their hearts you can’t question. A win’s a win. It doesn’t always paint a pretty picture for the supporters, but we got the win."

Cullompton were the better side for long spells with fly-half Alex Brooks running the game with his kicking, although Duke believes that considering the conditions, to go in only 6-0 down at half-time wasn’t too bad.

He said: “They controlled the first 40 minutes and used the wind to pin us back and it worked.

“However, we knew that it wouldn’t really be able to work in the second-half and we knew that we weren’t in a bad place.

“Saying that, we were obviously delighted that the referee changed his mind over their try. He thought that the white sleeve on our shirt was the ball but it was Marc Williams who had held him up.?Everyone knew that it was the right decision.

“I actually thought our defence was very good and Marc was absolutely outstanding as was Brandon Rowley again at flanker.

“Brandon and Jordan (Duke) carried very effectively for us and it helped us make some yards.”

One area of concern was the lineout, as a number went over the top of everyone, although the scrum was much more assured.

Duke continued: “Looking back over the game, our accuracy in the lineout was not great at all. The whole pack have got to take responsibility, it’s easy to blame one or two.

“Although that wasn’t great, our scrum was a lot better. At Clevedon we were under the cosh but it was great to have Rikki and Greg back. They made a real difference and we also had Rory (Cinnamond) on the bench who’s been playing really well and Andy Knight was back in the seconds.

“With Andy back in the picture we have three or four really good props, which means there’s going to be alot of competition for places going into the winter months when the conditions are going to be more suited towards the forwards.”

The All Blacks will certainly be put to the test on Saturday when they travel to second-placed Drybrook.

The Gloucestershire-based side have lost just once all season and inflicted the only defeat on league leaders, Exeter University.

However, Duke is confident of reducing the ten-point gap in the race for promotion.

He said: “We understand the challenge facing us and it’s probably our hardest game of the season so far.

“We know that we’ve got to play a lot better than we did on Saturday but I think we have the team to do it. If we play to the best of our ability then there’s no reason why we can’t win.”