Brown nicks pass to set up derby victory

PENRYN came away the victors in this tight and highly competitive local derby at the Recreation ground on Boxing Day afternoon, sponsored by Blue Flame.

The result was uncertain right to the final whistle which came as Falmouth were pressurising the Penryn line to achieve the score that could have tied the match once more.

The game was played at pace throughout and both teams attempted to play the type of rugby that involved all players in running rugby that was a pleasure to watch.

Penryn held the advantage in the scrum and this allowed Steve Bucknall and Ed Lawrence to peel off the back and penetrate the home defences while Falmouth secured good lineout possession through Steve Instance, Kevin Hughes and Chris Snell to keep the pressure on before releasing their backs.

With both defences hard to pierce from set plays it was broken play which offered the best scoring opportunities and here Penryn were quicker at winning the loose ball and recycling to keep the momentum going in their favour. Although a draw seemed very likely for most of the game, an impartial observer, if one could be found in the large crowd, would probably claim that Penryn just about deserved their victory based on their overall performance.

Certainly the visiting team got off to the better start and controlled proceedings for the first 20 minutes as Falmouth defended stoutly in the face of hard driving rugby from the Borough forwards balanced by sweeping moves across the field by their threequarters.

Eventually the deadlock was broken by an Ian Morgan penalty goal which gave the visitors the lead when Falmouth were caught offside at the breakdown.

Falmouth needed to up their game, but at this stage Penryn continued to hold the whip hand with several penetrating runs by Peter Webster, Toby Freeman and Ed Lawrence, in particular, which needed careful shepherding by the home team.

James Greville-Smith, the home full back, was kept very busy as he cleanly fielded several long kicks downfield and also made an important try-saving tackle in the corner as Penryn looked certain to go further ahead.

There was little respite for the home defence as their line kicks failed to find touch and Penryn were able to launch more counterattacks and establish position. From an attacking scrum in the corner the visitors increased their lead with a well-worked move around the base of the scrum which allowed scrum-half David Pascoe to touch down unchallenged to open the gap to 0-8.

Now Falmouth needed to respond, and so they did. The forwards started to gain more regular possession and drove the visiting pack back, while centres Mike Slater and James Instance were running at pace and causing problems as gaps started to appear in the Penryn threequarter line.

Penryn were under pressure and were forced into touch five yards out. From the ensuing lineout Steve Instance gathered and the rest of the pack drove for the line in a well-rehearsed move for Ben Short to gain the touch down. The conversion kick was missed but Falmouth immediately returned to the attack through their threequarters and the stretched Penryn defence were forced to infringe under their own posts to give Jack Brown the easiest of penalty kicks. Parity had been restored at 8-8 and that's how it stayed for the rest of the half.

Falmouth were now playing with the stiffening breeze in their favour, but were again under pressure in the early exchanges of the second half as Penryn kept possession and recycled well. The elusive Andrew Seviour at number 10 for Penryn was causing problems with penetrating runs and a try seemed on the cards on several occasions but handling errors were creeping in.

With both sides making mistakes as the tackles hit home, David Pascoe slotted an important penalty for the visitors and James Instance did the same for Falmouth to make it 11-11 as tension and tempers flared and the game heated up.

With Penryn reduced to 14 men because of a yellow card incident, Falmouth had numerical advantage and sought to make it pay. Unfortunately, as they opened up another threequarter move to stretch the visitors, they sealed their fate when a loose pass was intercepted very gratefully by Nick Brown who galloped in unopposed from 40 yards to touch down under the posts. Dave Pascoe added the extras to make it 11-18 with the minutes ticking away.

Falmouth came back immediately after this setback and pounded the visitors' tryline in an attempt to level the scores, but Father Time had the last word and a relieved Penryn side could celebrate their victory.

On Saturday Falmouth face one of their most important matches of the season when they entertain Cornwall and Devon League leaders Paignton at the Recreation Ground. Kick off is 2.30 pm.