HONITON 17pts

Tries: Brian Wellington, Steve Gilbert,Geoff Bowley

Conversations: Paul Woolacott

Penalty goals: Ian Morgan, 2

FALMOUTH 12pts

Tries: James Allen, Kevin Hughes

Conversations: James Instance

Falmouth: J. Cremin, T. Colvin, R. Warwicker, K. Hughes, S. Instance, A. Palmer, A. Lancaster, J. Allen, T. Spiller, R. Hambly, G. Leaver, J. Instance, M. Slater, D. Pellow, J. Brown. Repl: G. Pond, C. Snell, J. Dobson.

FALMOUTH made the trip to East Devon knowing that this Cornwall-Devon League game was one which was there to be taken and one which would have kept them in touch with the league leaders as the second half of the season unfolded.

However, the team had to settle for second best once again as the home side were allowed to open up gaps at various stages of the game which Falmouth then found it impossible to close. This result means that it is Honiton who are now well placed to launch an attack on the top teams while Falmouth continue to wile away their time in mid table - something seems to be going wrong with the script!

The Falmouth team was as strong as injuries and holidays would allow and appeared, on paper, to be more than capable of securing a valuable away victory. In fact, throughout the game Falmouth appeared the more adventurous and more versatile side as they scrummaged well against a heavier pack and tried to run the ball wide to the wings, but Honiton refused to panic as they soaked up the pressure and took their chances well as they arrived.

The first came very quickly as almost straight from the kick off Falmouth were slow out of the blocks and failed to defend the first real Honiton attack. The home fly half carved open the gap for Brian Wellington to score almost unopposed and so allow Paul Woolacott to convert.

At 7-0 down Falmouth were given a very early wake-up call and the team raised their game as they pushed up the slope towards the Honiton line.

There followed a period of sustained pressure as Falmouth tore into the home 22 metre area on several occasions, with Michael Slater making telling breaks before running out of support, but the home defenders held on and repelled each thrust.

Until, that is, they were unable to cope with a catch and drive from a lineout in a good position and James Allen was credited with the try. The conversion was missed as were two subsequent penalty goals which would have put Falmouth in front and the half time break arrived with Honiton just ahead at 7-5.

Falmouth now had the advantage of the slope, but after only two minutes they failed to move up quickly enough in defence and the home side made the most of the opportunity to tear through and Steve Gilbert got the touch down.

Falmouth were paying a heavy price for lack of awareness and once again established territorial advantage to probe for weaknesses. Scoring chances came and went as handling errors crept in at crucial moments and attacks weakly faded away.

Falmouth had a try disallowed before once again the forwards came to the rescue and Kevin Hughes crashed over for James Instance to add the extras.

Yet the home side remained resilient and a breakaway try by Geoff Bowley gave Honiton the lead at 17-12 and that's how it remained until the final whistle.

This was a very disappointing visit for Falmouth who did enough overall to win the game, but who were caught napping at the start of both halves.

They will need to avoid a repetition of such a lack of discipline and organisation next Saturday when high-flying Wadebridge Camels turn up at the Recreation Ground for a rearranged league game which kicks off at 2.30pm.