Cornwall and Devon League

Bude 24

Pirates Amateurs 5

Bencoolen Meadow

BUDE opened the scoring in a game that was to be dictated by the howling cross field wind when a commanding scrum powered by the rejuvenated Sobey and Bolt created space for scrum half Ollie Mounce to sneak around the blind side for a try.

The wind made the conversion from wide out mission impossible.

Bude’s second try was a stranger affair. Amateurs took a quick penalty just inside the Bude half but inexplicably, perhaps due to the gale force wind, the ball was passed straight to Bude’s Dan Pearce who waltzed through the despairing Penzance tacklers before quick- stepping half the length of the field for an outstanding solo try. Again unconverted.

As the second half progressed Penzance Amateurs began to take charge of proceedings, dominating possession and territory.

Bude defended bravely but eventually succumbed to the pressure and conceded a try; centre Josh Semmens cruising in at the corner.

It began to look as if Bude might be slipping to a home defeat as Penzance continued to look the stronger team less affected by the strong wind. However, the introduction of Andy Yates at 10, Freddie Saxton in the back row and Chubby Cholwill at hooker saw a change in fortunes. Kyle Speare, now moved to the centre, scythed through the defence to score a dramatic 40 metre try under the posts that enabled Pearce to slot over the conversion for a 17-5 lead.

This try invigorated the Bude 15 and when Yates’ high kick ahead was misjudged by the Amateurs’ fullback, Dan Pearce was able to sprint through to hack the ball over the try line for the bonus-point try that he converted.

Penzance Amateurs were now understandably somewhat demoralised, slipping so quickly from controlling the game to being three tries behind and Bude were able to dominate the final stages of the match.

They should have added to their try tally but a series of scrums on the opposition five metre line yielded nothing but frustration for the Bude forwards due to imprecise work at the base of the scrum. However, a bonus point win against a combative and well-organised opposition was an excellent reward for the afternoon’s endeavours.

Bude — Tries: Pearce x2, Speare, Mounce. Cons: Pearce x2

Pirates Amateurs — Tries: Semmens.

Bude: Bolt, Cook, Sobey, Kingdon, Troke, Gregory, Williams, Wilson, Mounce, Pearce, Green, Yates, Tout, Denford, Speare. Replacements: Cholwill, Saxton, Yates.

Pirates Amateurs: Cook, Semmens D, Nichollas, Law, Brownfield, Blewett, Goldsworthy, Toolan, Excel, Evans, Dugdale, Semmens J, Trsize, Eddy, Westren. Replacements: Turner, Britton, Farley.