Lions earn losing bonus point as leaders prove too strong

Hayle 29, Teignmouth 62

HAYLE put up a good fight against the Cornwall and League leaders at the Memorial Park on Saturday, but could not prevent Teignmouth from making it 12 wins out of 13.

It was an entertaining game which saw 12 tries scored – four from the home side – which at least earned them a bonus point.

Teignmouth centre Will Sowden was the visitors' star with seven of his side's eight tries.

At half-time Hayle found themselves 34-17 down after the visitors had raced into a 17-0 lead.

Hayle then came to life and got their reward when referee David May awarded them a penalty try on 25 minutes which Martin Strick converted, after continued infringements by the visitors on their own line.

But Teignmouth struck back with two further converted tries in quick succession but Hayle never gave up chasing the game and on 32 minutes a well worked move put centre Joel Cameron in under the posts.

Strick converted to make the score 31-14 to the visitors and a minute before half time kicked a penalty for Hayle, only for Dan Force to cancel it out with one of his own.

Teignmouth started the second half as they had the first. Strick was sin-binned on 47 minutes and Sowden scored two individual tries in his absence, again both converted by Force.

Dazzling

Sowden followed this with another try on 58 minutes after a dazzling run through the Hayle defence. Force converted to make 55-17.

Hayle continued to fight back and replacement Doug Arnull crossed in the corner after a good move and four minutes the same player outpaced the Teignmouth defence to touch down his kick ahead.

Strick converted to close the gap to 55-29 and give Hayle the try bonus point.

To close an outstanding personal performance Sowden again broke through to score, Dan Force maintained his perfect record with the conversion.

Hayle will take many positives from this game, not least the fact that they scored four tries against a team that had been conceding an average of only 11 points a game.

The Hayle forwards played well as a unit against the heavyweight Teignmouth pack, and the Hayle scrummage was again in control.

The missed tackles cost them dear in the end although they attacked at every opportunity and had some long periods of pressure in the Teignmouth 22.

Hayle: Adam Strick, James Nicholls, Danny Clackworthy, Tony Matthews, Richards Spear, Matt Rashleigh, Alex Thornton, Martin Strick, Neil Mitchell, Steven Richards, Scott Murray, Joel Cameron, Rob Goodman, Talan Daniels, Rob Cutter. Reps: David Penrose, Phil Tonkin, Doug Arnull.

Scorers: Hayle 29 (Tries, Penalty, Cameron, Arnull (2), Conversions, Strick (2). Penalty, Strick.

Teignmouth 62 (Tries, Sowden (7) Force; Cons: Force (7). Pens: Force (2).

This Saturday Hayle travel to Exeter to play Wessex, before the annual Christmas double header with neighbours St Ives.

Withycombe 8, Pirates Amateurs 7

THE Amateurs were left to reflect on what they felt were a series of harsh refereeing decisions during this narrow defeat in Devon on Saturday.

A disallowed try ten minutes from time denied the visitors what would have been a deserved victory after a dominant second half display.

It was the home side, however, who were well on top in the first half, but despite being awarded a number of penalties they only had an early kick from James Pugsley to show for their efforts as they took a slender 3-0 lead into the half-time interval.

The Amateurs made a good start to the second half and scored the first try of the match four minutes after the restart when skipper Leigh Edwards burst through to touch down under the posts, with wing Ryan Forrester adding the extra two points with the conversion.

But within five minutes Withycombe reduced the arrears to a single point with another Pugsley penalty, before regaining the lead when Kevin Rodwell darted over for his side's only try of the game.

Despite having Craig Stevens and Liam Walsh yellow carded the Amateurs continued to dominate and looked to have claimed a dramatic victory when Edwards again crossed the line, but much to the visitors' bemusement the referee deemed the pass forward.

It was tough on a youthful visiting side who included six players aged 20 and under, with some outstanding individual performances from the likes of Ashley Weston and Harry Hudson at centre, while Matt O'Leary impressed after coming on as a replacement after only 20 minutes.

This Saturday the Amateurs travel to third placed Saltash (2.30).

Pirates Amateurs: B Eddy, R Forrester, L Walsh, H Hudson, A Weston, A Snell, C James, D Lugg, J Lugg, G Sullivan, M Nicholas, B Brittain, C Murley, C Stevens, L Edwards (c). Reps (all used): M O'Leary, K Brownfield, A Hall.