Cornwall 17, Devon 31

CORNWALL'S County Championship campaign kicked off with disappointment at Camborne as Devon ran in five tries to seal a comfortable victory.

The visitors named a side boasting plenty of Championship experience and their quality told with Plymouth Albion's scrum-half Ed Lewsey and back row Sean-Michael Stephen by far the best players on the pitch.

Devon also got their tactics just right and used the new rolling replacements system which is being trialled by the RFU in this season's competition to create maximum impact. Cornwall started brightly though despite the unseasonal weather and were ahead after just two minutes as Redruthscrum-half Mark Richards peeled off the back of an attacking maul and raced home to score at the posts Josh Matavesi though missed the conversion attempt.

Penalty try

Gary Kingdom was off target with a penalty attempt for Devon but the home side continued to take the game to their opponents and were rewarded with a penalty try after 17 minutes as a driving maul was illegally pulled down close to the Devon try line. Fijian international Josh Matavesi converted to give Cornwall a 12-0 lead.

Devon responded making tactical changes which saw Ed Lewsey move to scrum half and Graham Dawe come off the bench. The tide turned as they almost immediately gained control up front and Devon earned themselves a penalty try as the Cornish pack wilted in front of their posts.

Quick thinking by Dave Ewers caught Cornwall cold right on half time from a quick free-kick as he tapped the ball to himself and galloped through a pedestrian home defence. Gary Kingdom slotted a simple conversion for a 14-12 lead to Devon at the break.

Cornish hopes were rekindled early in the second half as the men in black and gold took the game back to Devon. Wing Nick Simmons broke well down the left flank and as he drew the defensive cover offered a fine pass to No8 Mark Bright to score in the corner.

Devon responded with another raft of fresh legs up front and although Kingdom missed a penalty attempt to tie the scores, a predominantly Plymouth Albion pack began to play in the only way they know. Tight forward play and effective driving stifled the life out of Cornwall and as they tired Devon struck with three tries in the final quarter. Lewsey was the first across the Cornwall line as he sold an outrageous dummy at a ruck on the home 22 before racing home unopposed.

Kingdom's kicking woes in the blustery conditions continued as he missed the straightforward conversion but two minutes later Devon scored again as they raced the length of the field.

Chipped

Again Ed Lewsey was to the fore as he raced from deep through a flailing Cornish defence before offloading on half way to Stephen. The big Canadian chipped for the clubhouse corner and as a retreating Rob Thirlby failed to gather the loose ball, gathered possession and dived over the line.

Five minutes from time, with Devon camped in Cornwall territory, Lewsey again unleashed his backs with centre Keni Fisilau scything through the cover and complete the scoring. Kingdom converted to complete Cornwall's misery.