Camborne 43, Exmouth 38
Camborne were worthy winners in a high-scoring encounter at a windswept Recreation Ground as they condemned Exmouth to a fifth straight defeat in some style.
A brace of changes to the starting line-up saw Tony Whittle return to bolster the home pack whilst Bradley Bawden got another deserved run out in the scrum-half’s jersey.
‘Town’ were out of sight with a telling nineteen points lead as the game entered its closing stages after man-of-the-match Alex Ducker had notched up a four-try tally.
The Cherry & Whites decisively went 12-0 up inside five minutes as first Declan Matthews and then the elusive Ducker each raced nearly 80 metres to stun the visitors. Fly-half Mcatee added the extras to the first try with a well judged kick.
Mcatee landed a 13th minute penalty to increase the advantage but as the home side continued to dominate upfront the Cockles hit back to open their account with an unconverted touch down.
Camborne were soon back on the attack and relentless forward pressure ended when left wing Ducker came off his flank to glide over. Mcatee knocked over the conversion for 22-5.
As the interval neared the home side bagged the bonus point score when Ducker intercepted in his own half before romping over under the posts to complete his hat trick. Mcatee’s regulation conversion gave the visitors a mountain to climb in the second period as they trailed by 24 points at the break.
Crucially the Cherry & Whites lost giant lock Damien Cook to a sin-binning early in the second half and remarkably the spirited visiting side exploited the man advantage to score three tries, two of which were converted to close to 29-24.
Restored to a full complement normal service resumed for Camborne with the forwards hammering the Exmouth goal line before Ducker darted in for yet another score near the posts on the hour which he also converted.
Centre Matthews then made a 67th minute superb break in front of the grandstand to scorch over in the corner for his second score of the afternoon with Ducker landing a majestic touchline conversion to make it 43-24.
Soon after a brave try-saving tackle in the turnstile corner by young full-back Adam Long put paid to any hope the visitors had of a comeback.
Late on and in a lengthy period of stoppage time to their credit Exmouth battled back to gain the consolation of a second losing bonus point with a brace of close range converted tries.
Scorers - Tries: Ducker 4, Matthews 2. Cons: Mcatee 3, Ducker 2. Pen: Mcatee.
Camborne: A Long, L Thomas, J Semmens, D Matthews, A Ducker, R Mcatee, B Bawden, A Zacharovas, T Southworth, J Drew (capt), D Cook, N Stanleick, T Whittle, J Nicholls, J Rose. Reps: M Hearn, P Hinchley, L Chapple.
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