Bodmin 17 - Falmouth Eagles 21

Falmouth Eagles continued their unbeaten run in the Counties 2 Cornwall League with a dramatic 17-21 victory away at Bodmin on Saturday, writes Jon Baglow. 

It was a rollercoaster for the minibus full of travelling supporters, with the Eagles forfeiting a 13-point lead before coming back in the final play of the game.

The match started slowly, with both teams acclimatising to the humid conditions. Falmouth picked up a few early injuries, forcing the bench to be emptied earlier than Head of Rugby Tom Spiller would have hoped.

Ethan Williams opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a sweetly struck penalty. Five minutes later, he added another, extending the lead to 0-6.

Bryn Owen eventually made the most of an overlap, crashing over the whitewash from outside centre. Williams added another two points for the Eagles, leaving the score 0-13 at the break.

The second half started poorly for the Eagles when Oscar Gay was sin-binned soon after the whistle for a high tackle. Bodmin quickly took advantage of their extra man, scoring a try from a runner off the back of the scrum.

They were unable to convert but soon made Falmouth pay again, outmuscling the visitors to touch down once more. This time they converted to take the score to 12-13, with Falmouth just holding on to the lead.

Bodmin pulled ahead midway through the half with yet another try, but the conversion was missed, leaving the score at 17-13. Falmouth, perhaps not paying close enough attention to the score, opted to kick a penalty to bring them with in one point, the score now 17-16.

Tension mounted as Falmouth’s Cam Bullock was shown a yellow card for backchat to the referee, leaving the Eagles down a man once again. But with just seconds minutes left, Ethan Williams made a blistering run through the Bodmin defence, passing off to Olly Jones, who crossed the line for a crucial try.

The conversion was missed, but Falmouth reclaimed the lead at 21-17 as the final whistle blew.

Ethan Williams was named man of the match for his excellent open-play running and reliability off the tee.

The Eagles now sit comfortably with three wins from three and will look to extend their unbeaten run against top-of-the-league Saltash at home next week. Kick-off is at 3pm at the Recreation Ground.