at the Recreation Ground

Cornwall 22, Gloucestershire 37

DESPITE being under pressure in the set piece, Cornwall gave defending champions Gloucestershire a mighty scare at Camborne on Sunday before going down in an entertaining game which saw the lead change hands on six occasions.

And despite the defeat Cornwall coach Tom Rawlings was full of praise for his side.

He said: "I am immensely proud of the boys, it was an outstanding effort, a brilliant effort.

"Before the game when we handed out the jerseys we all sat down and I said today it's not about winning or losing I wanted them to go out and do the county proud and restore pride and passion into the jersey and they did that for me and Steve (Kenward).

"They went out and put their bodies on the line and created something quite special. Yes we lost, but it could have gone either way, for long periods during the game it was nip and tuck, and that shows the progress we have made over the past couple of seasons.

"I am really proud of them all today. I was really pleased with our backline, they showed a lot of promise and I think in the backs we had the beating of them."

The signs were ominous for Cornwall as the powerful Gloucestershire pack had the Cornwall scrum in all sorts of bother early on.

During the opening half hour Cornwall were left to pick at the scraps such was Gloucestershire's dominance, however all they had to show for their efforts were a couple of penalties from full back Sam Baker.

Slowly but surely Cornwall came more into the game. Fly-half Kyle Moyle missed with his first penalty attempt at the posts from distance on the half-hour mark, but it wasn't too long before he got his name on the score sheet.

A good run from Cornish All Blacks winger Aron Struminski put Cornwall into an attacking position, allowing Moyle the chance to break the defence and score under the posts and his conversion put Cornwall 7-6 up.

Cornwall then went straight back downfield and won a penalty as Gloucestershire failed to release the ball, Moyle slotted the kick to extend Cornwall's lead.

A clearly rattled Gloucestershire got themselves back into the lead with lock Ben West powering over for an unconverted try.

Just prior to half-time Gloucestershire had a man sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul, as they trooped off they must have wondered how they were just one point ahead having dominated for such long periods.

Cornwall made the perfect start to the second half when flanker Jordan Rose made a good break before finding centre Liam Yeo who gave the scoring pass to his All Blacks team-mate Struminski.

Moyle couldn't add the conversion, nor could Cornwall again hold on to their advantage as Gloucestershire stormed back to reclaim the lead with a pushover try from replacement back row Harris Casson. Baker adding the extras to put them 18-15 ahead.

Moyle was again involved in Cornwall's third try as they wrestled the lead back once more, just six minutes later his break set up the position for skipper Malcolm Hearn to pick and dive over from a ruck near the Gloucestershire line. Moyle's conversion gave Cornwall a 22-18 lead.

That was as good as it got for the Cornish lads as Gloucestershire reverted to the tried and tested route of the scrum to grind out the result.

Back to a full complement Gloucestershire turned the screw, getting a penalty five-metres out the visitors opted unsurprisingly for a scrum shoving the Cornish pack over their own line to allow flanker Harry Horne to get the un-converted try.

Only nine minutes later they attempted to repeat the dose, Cornwall infringed and referee Sara Cox ran under the sticks to award a penalty-try which Baker converted putting his side eight points ahead.

Gloucestershire continued to dominate territorially and it was when going for the line that their prop James Litchfield was badly injured. The game was held up, for some 15 minutes, while he was given medical attention and stabilised prior to evacuation by ambulance to Treliske Hospital.

Eventually the decision was made by the referee to play the remaining ten minutes on the pitch next to the Camborne clubhouse.

Play resumed with a five-metre scrum to Gloucestershire which allowed centre Taylor Stevens to power his way over for his side's fifth try, replacement Jack O'Connell popped over the conversion to complete the scoring.

Cornwall are next in action against Somerset at Wells on Sunday February 19.