Saturday, December 7

Tribute Cornwall and Devon League

Bude 36

Torquay Athletic 32

OLLY Mounce scored with the last play of the game as Bude fought off a superb comeback to beat Torquay Athletic and move up to fourth in the table.

The South Devon side arrived at Bencoolen Meadow one place above the hosts, who were determined to get their own back after Torquay did the double over them last season.

Bude went into the fixture in sixth but with a game in-hand following last Saturday’s first away win of the season at South Molton.

Player/coach Angus Hodges sprung a surprise by naming an unchanged side and then naming himself on the bench, despite initially predicting he wouldn’t be back until the new year following a serious cheekbone injury suffered at Lanner in September.

Torquay had lost twice in a row on their travels but started the brighter with the hosts forced to defend.

However they did take the lead on 12 minutes. Tully Innes dropped the ball 30 metres out from his own line and with Bude on the attack, outside-centre Tom Drake pounced to run through unopposed to score down the right-wing (0-5).

Bude started to put some phases together but it was the visitors who went close to doubling their lead. A penalty was kicked to the corner five metres out, however the hosts managed to earn themselves a penalty of their own.

This inspired Bude and they scored three tries before the half-time whistle.

First, on 22 minutes, good hands from the backs got the ball out to left-winger Ryan Butler, who broke through three tackles to score in the corner.

The second score came ten minutes later as more good hands saw Butler gather the ball 15 metres out. This time Butler was tackled but he managed to pop an offload to Denford, who despite fumbling the ball, showed great skill to dot the ball down before it touched the floor. He then got up and converted the kick.

Innes was withdrawn on 32 minutes with Hodges coming on in his place at blindside-flanker and the hosts soon scored again.

Mounce’s box kick from his own half was fumbled by the Torquay winger which allowed Hodges to get the ball. As he was tackled, Hilliam-Cooke was racing up in support to take the pass and run in from 40 metres.

Bude could have been even further in front but Torquay’s touch judge ruled that Rory Hodges had stepped into touch when diving for the corner, while Angus Hodges saw a certain try disallowed by the referee who stopped the game immediately to attend to a visiting player who had been kneed in the head attempting to tackle him.

The half-time whistle had come at a great time for the visitors and they reduced the arrears to seven just two minutes after the break.

Inside-centre Jonny Brown showed superb anticipation to intercept Joe Wilson’s pass on his own ten-metre line to run in. Full-back Mawgan Penrice slotted the extras.

Bude’s task became tougher when fly-half Charlie Watton was sin-binned by referee Mark Hooper for a high tackle.

It was 19-19 on 56 minutes when the Devonians were awarded a penalty try when Finley Fry tackled a player off the ball as he was about to gather a kick through and score.

When in crisis, the Bencoolen Meadow often rely on a big driving maul to score and it was to the fore again on the hour as Mounce was the beneficiary from five metres out.

The final quarter saw 25 points. From the restart from Mounce’s try, Bude were penalised for holding on and Penrice knocked over the three points.

They then took the lead with 12 minutes to go as a lack of numbers at the ruck, allowed Brown to pick the ball up and run over the top to score from 30 metres. Penrice again slotted the points to make it 29-24.

Bude went straight back up the other end and scored within three minutes. A scrum some seven metres out was pushed right back to the line, and with it wheeling and breaking up, Wilson went to the left and broke though a tackle to score.

On 75 minutes the hosts were penalised at the ruck which allowed Penrice to kick a second penalty.

Bude again responded well, winning a turnover from the restart.

After a couple of minutes, Bude were awarded a penalty which was kicked to the corner. Torquay tried to step off and put someone around the side but were penalised, leading to another penalty, which was again kicked into touch five metres out. After securing the lineout, a number of Bude’s backs piled on which proved too much to handle as Mounce dotted down. Denford missed the kick but it didn’t matter as Bude moved up to fourth ahead of their trip to second-placed Truro on Saturday (2.30pm).

Hodges admitted that they were desperate to win.

He said: “For the boys who were here last year, the game carried quite a lot of weight due to the fact that they were the only team to beat us twice. They upset us quite badly and were the only team to beat us at home.

“Also with the seconds being at home, there was a really good atmosphere and energy around the club, even before we started the warm-up. I could tell everyone was up for it.”

Hodges was delighted with his side’s response over the last fortnight.

He said: “I’m really happy with the last couple of games. With the number of matches postponed due to the weather in recent weeks, it’s nice to find our feet again. It feels like we’re back to being a week in, week out team.

“Also apart from the bench, there were no changes which has been rare this year. To have the same boys on the pitch showed and we should be able to take steps forward now.

“We’ve obviously got another hard game this weekend. We’ve only won once away so far, so that’s going to be a different type of challenge for us, but if we’ve got a similar availability I’ve got confidence that we’ll be able to put in a good performance.”

Hodges believes that their forwards could hold the key.

He said: “They’ve put a lot of points on a lot of teams so they know how to score tries, which will test our defence.

“But if we can beat them up front and be really physical with them, I think we maybe to upset them a bit and put them off their game which could go a long way to beating them.”

Bude —

Denford (captain), R Hodges, Bettington, Hilliam-Cooke, Butler, Watton, Mounce; Keat, Bolt, Allin, Kingdon, Williams, Innes, F Fry, Wilson.

Replacements: A Hodges, Statton, S Yates.

Tries: Butler, Denford, Hilliam-Cooke, Mounce 2, Wilson.

Convs: Denford 3.

Pens: N/A.

Bude’s man-of-the-match: Joe Wilson.