A large crowd braved the windy conditions at the Memorial ground for the traditional Boxing Day clash between Penryn and Falmouth. With the Borough in the lower reaches of Western Counties and Falmouth towards the top of the Devon and Cornwall league and both sides at full strength the only safe prediction was that this would be a fiery encounter, writes James Instance.
Penryn came into the match with that all important sporting factor, momentum, since the return of Alex Ducker they have begun to win matches at home. Playing into the wind Penryn started the game with far greater intensity than their opponents, scrum half and skipper Josh Chambers sparking the backline with incisive breaks and putting the Borough on the front foot with Falmouth being forced to defend.
Andrew Seviour, a major influence all game, was used to great effect as a ball carrying line breaker and took advantage to cross for an early lead, converted by his brother Jake for a 7-0 lead.
This seemed to sting the Eagles into life who with a number of penalties managed to get a foothold in Penryn territory. Firstly a penalty attempt from Irons which bounced off the posts, then Falmouth launched several attacks at the Penryn line which were strongly resisted until powerhouse number 8 Simon Bailey finally crossed under the posts for Justyn Irons to convert and tie the scores. Both sides spent the rest of the half slogging away at eachother like a pair of heavyweight boxers, flanker Aaron Hughes at the centre of everything good for the Borough but with nothing further to bother the scoreboard.
Like most Boxing Day derbies, there were interesting sub plots to observe throughout the proceedings, the most eye catching being the battle for supremacy between wings Ducker and Baragwanath, not all of it exactly within the laws of rugby.
To start the second half it was obvious that Falmouth would need a mighty performance to win the match, they did not have a big enough lead to defend and with conditions in their favour Penryn were overwhelming favourites. An injury to Eagles prop forward Dan Kirk weakening the scrum, Penryn’s ball carrying forwards began to make significant breaks, Ben Ashwin often to the fore.
A penalty from Seviour regained the lead for the Borough prior to the pivotal score, when Penryn broke through the Falmouth defence and passed the ball quickly across the back line, man of the match, Andrew Seviour selling a dummy to his opposite number to touch down under the posts, Jake again adding the extras.
Falmouth now 2 scores behind chased the game with wild abandon but breaks by Tom Spiller and Justyn Irons fizzled out due to lack of support. The Eagles also lost hooker AJ Geach to the sin bin and the Borough took full account of the advantage in numbers, increasing their lead through a forward push over credited to replacement Matt Williams, Seviour again converting.
The final score was either a piece of luck or sublime skill, dependent on your allegiance, as a wind affected cross field kick from Matt Horton was collected from seemingly nowhere by Alex Ducker, continuing his rich vein of form of try scoring for Penryn’s fourth, 29 – 7 and a deserved win.
[b] Penryn[/b]
J Seviour, M Vague, M Fittock, A Seviour, A Ducker, M Horton, J Chambers, K Oldfield, B Birkett, R Burley, B Ashwin, B Trevaskis, G Randlesome, A Hughes, J Rose.
Reps, J Dale, M Williams, P Hinchley, C Hellier, J Salisbury.
[b]Falmouth[/b]
A Searle, C Pollard, D Kirk, J Dobson, T David, C McColl, R Fitzpatrick, S Bailey, A Munro-Lott, J Irons, M Lea, T Spiller, D Jones, R Baragwanath, J Simmons.
Reps, P Saberton, S Instance, H Martin, N Searle, K Rodda, G Hooper, A Geach.
Written by James Instance. Photo by Jason Dreyer.
