With the Rugby Football Union announcing that the 2019/20 rugby season is now over, we take a look at how our top sides fared in their respective campaigns.

CAMBORNE RFC’s 2019/20 campaign could certainly say they had a season of two halves, with a fine start to their South West Premier campaign being cancelled out by a dire second half of the season.

A strong start saw the Cherry & Whites open their campaign with six wins from their first eight games, only for the team to lose six of their last seven games prior to the RFU’s suspension of all rugby on March 16.

The club may have held pre-season fears about replacing the tries of former star Alex Ducker, who left the Recreation Ground for National League 1 side Plymouth Albion in the off-season, with the wing scoring 40 tries across 26 league games as Camborne finished ninth in 2018/19.

But a bonus-point win at home to Newbury Blues in a game that saw 53 points in all did well to quell those early concerns. Tommy Southworth, Lewis Thomas, Declan Matthews and a penalty try secured a fine first five points for the Cherry & Whites.

A 28-14 defeat at Okehampton followed, but a nailbiting 15-14 win at home to Weston-super-Mare got ‘Town’ back on track, with a penalty try and another from Thomas, plus a kick from Rhys Brownfield, proving just enough to hold off the previously unbeaten visitors.

The optimism from that result was tempered by a 44-13 hammering at eventual end-of-season leaders Barnstaple, in which Barum ran in four second-half tries to pull well clear of the Cornish club.

But Camborne rallied once again and responded with a narrow 30-26 victory at home to Bracknell, with that win proved the catalyst for a fine run of four successive hard-fought victories, all of which were won by seven points or fewer.

Second on that run was a 24-17 win at Brixham before another dramatic single-point victory, this time a 26-25 win at home to Drybrook. The Cherry & Whites were leading 26-20 until the visitors went over in stoppage time, but the conversion to snatch the victory went wide to the relief of the home side.

Next up was a 20-13 win at Exeter University, before what the Cornish side would have hope was a minor blip in the form of a 17-8 defeat at home to Exmouth.

An entertaining 25-25 draw at home to Ivybridge, in which a late penalty denied Camborne victory, made it two games without a win for the first time in 2019/20, but they were back on the winning side a week later with victory in the Cornish derby at home to Launceston.

Converted tries from Jake Champion and Southworth before a Brownfield penalty saw the Cherry & Whites lead 17-5 at the break, but a stern second-half comeback from the visitors pushed Camborne all the way, with another try from Southworth securing victory in the end.

The topsy-turvy form continued with a 46-7 humbling at the hands of Maidenhead, who racked up seven tries to condemn the Cherry & Whites to defeat, before a 16-7 victory at home to Okehampton saw Camborne end their 2019 league fixtures on a high note.

Camborne began 2020 with a 14-10 defeat at Weston-super-Mare – one of 11 Town matches decided by seven or fewer points during the season – with lock Neil Stanleick’s converted try rescuing a losing bonus point.

League leaders Barnstaple were next to pitch up at the Rec, and they ran out comfortable winners again, with their 48-19 victory securing an aggregate 92 points for Barum against the Cherry & Whites over both league games.

Camborne’s new year wobble continued with a 30-10 loss at Bracknell, as Town recorded three successive defeats for the first time in the campaign.

Three became four as February rolled around, with a last-gasp penalty denying the Cherry & Whites what would have been a first victory of 2020. Camborne had done brilliantly to hit back from 15-0 down to move one point behind thanks to converted tries from Rob Gurnett and Harvey Bell, before David Mankee kicked the hosts ahead, only for a monster late penalty secured the points for the Fishermen.

A three-week period passed without a game, with one inactive weekend as the odd team out in the 13-strong division being followed by the postponement of their trip to Drybrook.

That trip took place on the previously blank weekend seven days later, but the extra rest did not help, with Camborne squandering a 16-7 half-time lead to lose 26-19.

Things looked a little brighter another week later as Camborne finally registered their maiden win of 2020, doing so in style with six tries in a 36-5 victory at home to Exeter University. Tries from Dan Job, Ashley Riches, Gurnett, Southworth and a brace from Thomas secured what turned out to be Town’s final win of the season.

That was because a narrow 27-21 defeat at Exmouth seven days later ended up being the Cherry & Whites’ final outing of the campaign, with Camborne sitting in ninth place at the time of the RFU's decision to suspend all rugby on March 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak, before then announcing that the season was over four days later.

League position: 9th

Wins: 9

League points: 46

Match points scored: 389

Match points conceded: 477