Bill Hooper’s Cornish Roundup

It’s been a pretty tough week for all involved with the Cornish Pirates as firstly head coach Mark Hewitt was dismissed following Sunday’s dismal exit from the National Trophy and then the players who are contracted for next season were told that they will be taking a substantial paycut! Brett Davey was given the role of acting head coach for the rest of the season, also notified that he would have to re-apply for his existing job next season. So it was with a mixture of interest and apprehension that the supporters awaited to see the reaction on the field last weekend at Moseley.

It started slowly up at Billesley Common as Moseley went 10-0 up early doors. However the Pirates dug deep and showed pride and guts as they turned the tide. Scrum-half Nicky Griffiths with a try-saving tackle to prevnet the homeside going even further ahead then went on to score a hat-trick of tries himself in a starring role on the day. Jimmy Moore on from the start converted all four tries including Paul Devlin’s and kicked three penalties as the Pirates came from behind to win 37-26. A moral boosting win for the Pirates as they look to finish off the season on the up.

In National League 2, Redruth as expected accounted for second from bottom side Southend 48-14 at the Recreation Ground. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Reds as it took them a while to settle into their rythem due to the stop-start nature of the game, which was delayed for 20 minutes during the first half as two Southend players collided, happily both have since recovered well. The scoring was led by Rob Thirlby approaching his best form once again who ran in a hat-trick of tries. Mark Bright gave another towering performance as he ran in two tries, with other scores comming from Peter Joyce, Lewis Vinnicombe and Owen Hambly.

Down at the Mennaye, the Cornish All Blacks got their revenge for their defeat at home earlier in the season at the hands of Mount’s Bay, with No.8 Sam Hocking powering over for the decisive score seven minutes into time added on for a 19-15 win. Glenn Remnant scored the first Launceston try with Mal Roberts (2) and Adam Staniforth kicking three penalties. For Bay Dan Hawkes kicked five penalties.

In the Tribute regional leagues; in South West 2 West, another good win for St. Ives who beat Brixham 34-10 with Julian Hosking, Kyle Armstrong, Richard Humphreys, Rudy Meredith and Hano Dirksen all crossing for tries. Karl Martin kicking three conversions and a penalty. The Hakes are fourth in the table.

In Western Counties West, Wadebridge Camels remain in fourth place after a 37-17 win at home to Tiverton. Dan Briskham ran in four tries for the Camels with Alisdair Maclennan scoring a fifth. Jake McCarroll added three conversion and acouple of penalties.

Newquay Hornets are just behind their near neighbours following a 31-10 win at the Sportscentre over bottom side Withycombe. Stuart Williams, Alex Woodley, Luke Mansfield and Jon Hyatt scored tries for the Hornets with Sam Cullen landing all four conversions and a penalty.

Camborne had no luck at leaders Cullompton who trounced the visitors 45-0.

Bude lost at Bencoolen 25-7 to visting Kingsbridge, Paul Williams with the try which Ollie Rayner converted.

In London 3 SW, London Cornish after a lay-off due to the bad weather in the South East found leaders Chichester too hot to handle as they lost 27-3.

In the Cornwall & Devon League, leaders Penryn ran in 14 tries as they defeated Saltash at the Memorial Ground 88-0. Chris Mann (3), Marek Churcher (2), Dan Booth, Taron Peacock, Charlie Ross, Dan Laity, Rob Trevaskis, Matt Biggins, Kevin Hughes and Syd Savvas all crossed for the Borough. Peacock (3) and Biggins (6) adding nine conversions.

Truro surprisingly slipped up in Somerset at Wellington 17-16, Truro scored tries through Rickki Brandon and Sean Rosevear, with Scott Martin adding two penalties.

Hayle lost at Okehampton 23-13, Adam Keverne with a try for the Lions, Shayne Poynton with a conversion and two penalties.

Falmouth got their first league win of the season at the Rec with a 20-19 win over Plymstock, thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Matt Horton. Horton kicked also kicked an earlier penalty and converted both of Steve Roe’s tries.

The 2009 Bottle Match played in London saw The Royal School of Mines beat Camborne School of Mines 14-10 to retain the “bottle”.

The dream of the EDF-Energy National Trophy quarter-final tie between Mount’s Bay and the Cornish Pirates was shipwrecked good ‘n proper at Meadow Lane on Sunday afternoon as Nottingham dispatched a sadly lacklustre Cornish side by 39-8 to book their place at the Mennaye to face the Bay.

It was a performance that has been described by those that were there as “embarassing”, not a discription that will sit easy with either the Pirates’ supporters or management as the club looks to secure funding for next season’s “Championship”. The sad fact though is that the side this season are no better than a mid-table, all they have to play for now is PRIDE and to secure the best possible finish as a launch pad for next season and hopefully a more successful campaign.

For the good of Cornish rugby let us all hope that “the problems” that have clearly existed this season can be resolved and the club move forward, it is the least that the supporters deserve!

There will at least be an all-Cornish tie in the quarter-finals of the EDF-Energy Junior Vase as Liskeard and Looe overcame Essex side Campion at Lux Park 25-3 to set up the tie with St. Austell. Baz Hocking led the scoring with a couple of tries a conversion and a penalty, other points came from Bob Bettison and a conversion from Marcus Hill.

In National League 2, leaders Redruth left it very late to snatch victory from defeat at Westcombe Park. Trailing 13-10 well into injury time Redruth scored their third try of the afternoon from replacement winger Rob Thirlby to snatch a vital win. Emyr Lewis and Mark Bright scored the other Reds’ tries.

Mount’s Bay’s hopes of avoiding relegation took another blow as they lost at Giggleswick School to Wharfedale. With the Dalesmen securing all five points on offer the relegation trapdoor has opened a little wider. Ben Hilton scored a try for Bay with Dan Hawkes adding the conversion and three penalties.

In the Tribute regional leagues, St. Ives’ game at Walcot was called off due to the weather.

In Western Counties West, Wadebridge Camels dropped a vital point at bottom club Withycombe drawing 10-10. Rob Hawkey and Sam Stone scored tries for the Camels.

Newquay Hornets completed the double over Camborne with a 29-15 win at the Recreation Ground. Hornets ran in five tries with a brace from winger James Ingle, No.8 Stuart Williams, former Camborne flyer, Rob Ley and centre Romy Vassell. Sam Cullen kicked a couple of conversions. Camborne kept in it with tries from Rob Floyd and Shane Woods with Dave Mankee adding a conversion and a drop-goal.

Bude found the going tough up along the North Coast at Minehead losing 34-6, Ollie Rayner with acouple of penalties.

In London, London Cornish’s game was the victim of a water-logged pitch.

In the Cornwall & Devon League, Penryn maintained their championship push with a win at Hayle 12-5 thanks to tries by Darren Pellow and Taron Peacock with Peacock adding a conversion. For Hayle Adam Redgrave scored a try.

Truro maintain their push with a win over Crediton 16-8. Luke Trescothick scored the try with the Martin brothers kicking the other points, Scott the conversion and two penalties, Ross a drop-goal.

Saltash lost at Moorlands 8-5 to Wellington, Rob Woolridge scoing a try for the Ashes.

Falmouth had no answer to Tavistock going down 57-0.

Congratulations to Redruth Colts who overcame Ivybridge 15-0 at Redruth to reach the last eight of the National Colts Cup.

Truro College have made the semi-finals of the Daily Mail U.18 Cup following their 15-8 win in Cheshire to Lymm. They now face Surrey school John Fisher in the semi-final, which will be played at Broadstreet RFC in Coventry on Saturday March 14th, hoping to book their place in the Twickenham final on Wednesday 1st April.

So to the second weekend of the RBS 6 Nations, although Wales did beat England 23-15, England showed far better than they did in their previous game. France disappointed in their 22-13 win over Scotland for whom the Evans brother stood out. Ireland completed a routine win in Rome to keep their championship hopes on course winning 38-9.

In the only National Trophy tie played on Saturday, Mount’s Bay defeated London Scottish 6-5 at the Mennaye thanks to the boot of Dan Hawkes. Bay’s reward a home tie against the winners of the Nottingham vs. Cornish Pirates tie to be played this weekend. Every incentive for the Pirates to overcome Nottingham and set up an all Cornish tie in the quarter-finals.

Should the Pirates prevail at Meadow Lane, which is by no means certain, then the possibility will be for the tie to be switched to Camborne so that both clubs can profit from higher gate receipts from a bumper gate, which sadly the Mennaye can no longer accomodate.

The weather got the better of the few remaining games with one or two exceptions. St. Austell won through to the quarter-finals of the Junior Vase with a 6-5 win against Teddington at Tregorrick. There reward an away tie to the winner of the postponed Liskeard & Looe v Campion tie, so great incentive for the Lions to win that one and set up another all Cornish tie!

In the few re-arranged league matches that took place, in Tribute Western Counties West a good win for Newquay Hornets against Kingsbridge 12-3. In the Tribute Cornwall & Devon league Hayle after some disappointing results enjoyed a good win at the Memorial Park defeating Plymstock Albion Oaks 22 - 6, thanks to tries from Kevin Tippett, Dave Seager and Adam Keverne. Mile Crump added a penalty and conversion with Paul Lello adding a second conversion.

I was delighted to learn this week of the selection for the England Counties XV for their forthcomming matches against AIB Irish Clubs XV at Donnybrook on Friday February 27th February and against France Amateurs at Twickenham on Sunday 15th March of Redruth’s Darren Jacques and Launceston’s Josh Lord and Mike Myerscough. Congratulations to all three on their selections, well deserved.

Turning to the RBS 6 Nations and the opening weekend of games, reigning champions Wales looked in ominous form as they dispatched Scotland at a bitterly cold Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon by 26-13. Wales with Alun-Wyn Jones and Andy Powell dominating the scrums and with a backline full of exciting runners put down a marker to the other sides, notably England next up for Wales at the Millenium on Saturday. England didn’t convince in their 36-11 win over Italy even though they were helped by Nick Mallett’s bizarre selection of flanker Mauro Bergamasco at scrum-half!!

And so to the most exciting game of the weekend by far, Ireland’s defeat of France 30-21 at Croke Park. It was great to see Brian O’Driscoll back to his best form, he took his try ever so well as did No.8 Jamie Heaslip and centre replacement Gordon D’Arcy. France too will take much from the game even in defeat, there was flair and imagination in their play, which was sadly lacking under Laporte.

Who will bet against a Grand Slam decider between Wales and Ireland on the last day of the tournament on March 21st in Cardiff?

Redruth put a stop to their losing run with an exciting 29-17 win over Blackheath in National League 2 at the Recreation Ground on Saturday. With many pundits predicting another defeat foer the Reds against an in-form “Club” side Nigel Hambly’s charges secured all five league points to keep the pressure on the chasing pack. Despite trailing to an early try, Redruth hit back to tie the scores before half-time with a try by Mark Bright.

During the second half Redruth scored three tries in a seven minute spell through Luke Collins, Lewis Vinnicombe (who earlier got yellow carded for a technical offence) and Craig Bonds, a try described by David Penberthy as the best try scored at Redruth in many a long year. Hooker Owen Hambly rounded off the try scoring with the Reds’ fifth. Some big performances from Emyr Lewis, Mark Bright and James Mann. Credit to Blackheath for their performance in making it a great game on Saturday.

Mount’s Bay helped their cause with a 12-0 win at the Mennaye against Blaydon. Ben Hilton and Sam Parsons scored the Bay’s tries with Doug Sanft kicking a conversion.

After the euphoria of their win against Redruth the previous week, the Cornish All Blacks undid all the good work from that win with last-gasp defeat at Stourbridge losing 37-36. Despite going 14-0 down Launceston hit back with a try from Marc Dibble converted by Mal Roberts who then added a penalty. Sam Hocking’s try put the CAB’s in the lead. Stourbridge levelled with an Ali Bressington penalty, before Mike Myrescough scored for Launceston to re-gain the lead once more. A Stourbridge try levelled the scores at 24 all at half-time. Stourbridge nudged ahead with a penalty before Glenn Cooper scored a fourth try for the CABs. Hamish Mitchell scored a fifth try and all looked set for another win, but Stourbridge had other ideas with Bressington’s boot and a Martin Freman try denying the blacks putting an end to their promotion hoped for this season.

In National League 1 a morale boosting win on the road for the Cornish Pirates at Rotherham as the Pirates got revenge for their defeat against the Titans at Camborne. The 34-28 win was just the tonic before their National Trophy tie at Nottingham on Sunday. Tries came via Marika Vakacegu (2), Darren Dawiduik (on for Rob Elloway who suffered a cheap shot injury, which required a hospital trip for the hooker and a deserved red card for his assailant!), Iva Motusaga, Jimmy Moore. Rhys Jones kicked three conversions and a penalty.

In the Tribute regional leagues, in South West 2 West, St. Ives had a good win at Avonmouth Old Boys 30-20. Hanno Dirksen scored a couple of tries for the Hakes with Tom Nicholas scoring a third. Karl Martin added 15 points with the boot.

In Western Counties West, Newquay v Kingsbridge was postponed and has been earmarked for this comming Saturday.

Wadebridge Camels routed Camborne 37-3, with Herbie Stupple scoring a couple of tries, other scores came from Dan Briskham, Jake McCarroll, Tom O’Donnell and Ben Miskowicz. McCarroll kicking a couple of conversions and a penalty. Joe Parma kicked a penalty for Town.

Bude had no joy as Cullompton trounced the homeside 53-0 to maintian top spot.

In London 3 SW London Cornish got back to winning ways with a 14-9 win at Effingham & Leatherhead, Dickon moon’s report is in the link

In the Cornwall & Devon League, Penryn maintained their top spot with a 46-3 win at home to OPM’s. Six tries for the Borough through Taron Peacock (2), Matt Biggins, Darren Pellow (2) and Justin Doney. Five conversions and two penalties for scrum-half Dave Pascoe back at the Borough after a spell at the Reds.

Truro are in second spot just behind Penryn after defeating Carrick rivals Falmouth 33-0 at the Rec. Five tries for the city side through Mark Lea, David Moyle, Rikki Brandon, Tim Gay and Tristan Nolan. Ross Martin kicked four conversions.

No joy for Hayle at Wellington where the Somerset side won 36-0, nor for Saltash at Crediton as the Devonians won 45-3, Steve Down kicked the solitary Ashes’ penalty.