Mon 09 Mar 2020 20:08

It was another derby day to remember for Penryn, as a first half blitz helped secure a bonus point victory and left their rivals empty handed. Penryn raced into a 22-0 lead inside half an hour which was enough to do the job and make it 3 wins in 3 games against Falmouth this season.

In recent times, seasons in which these two local rivals face off more than once are a rarity, and rarer still is the opportunity for a clean sweep. Penryn came away from the reverse league fixture with an excellent bonus point victory earlier on in the season, backed up by a much closer Boxing Day victory at the Memorial Ground.

The game took on extra significance for Falmouth, who were looking nervously over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table before kick off despite some recent good league form. If the opening quarter of the game was anything to go by, the Borough were in a far from charitable mood.

The home side started with a rip-roaring tempo and a real accuracy, that the visitors struggled to contain. Josh Chambers opened the scoring with an excellent try down the right touchline that had been coming since the first whistle, for a 5-0 lead with Sam Carter missing his first conversion attempt.

Penryn were getting a great deal of joy from the wide channels, playing with width and finding the edge all to frequently for the Eagles liking, who continued to struggle against wave after wave of attack. It was no surprise to see Penryn double their lead with a cracker of a score, as the home side sliced open the away defence once again to find Kyle Bradley in the kind of space he can’t be afforded, to dive under the sticks. Bizarrely Carter’s conversion was charged down.

Seemingly keen to make amends for his two missed kicks, Carter was next to cross the line for the Borough as a loose Falmouth kick was charged down and dived on by the scrum half. He made no mistake with the conversion this time to make it 17-0. Penryn had the bonus point in their sights now and were keen to wrap it up and put the game to bed before the break and they did exactly that. Another fine charge from the home side took the Borough agonisingly close to the line, but they stayed patient and again it was Carter who pounced to sneak if for try number four. Falmouth did manage to get on the board before the break with a penalty goal, but a blistering 40 minutes from the hosts had done the job,

Despite a first half fizzing with flowing, attacking rugby, the second 40 was more of a classic niggly derby for the purist. With the breakdown a mess and the normal derby day spikiness coming to the fore, scores were at a premium. In fact the only points of the second half went to visitors, who managed a close range unconverted consolation try. Penryn may have failed to add to their first half tally, but the damage was already done as they claimed a 5-0 match point swing. The Borough travel to Collumpton this Saturday for a rearranged game.

Penryn: Levick, Chambers, Bradley, Tupholme, Salisbury, Vague, Carter, Illsley, Rush, Strick, Barker, Trevaskis, Hughes, Hellier, Randlesome reps: Fibbens, Jones, Hitchens

Tries: Chambers, Bradley, Carter (2)
Conversion: Carter

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