Launceston Rugby Club

A chilly yet clear afternoon welcomed Bude to Polson bridge for this seconds team local derby. At the start both teams were eager to play a fairly fast and open game. The first few exchanges saw Launceston putting on the pressure and with a clearing kick from within the Bude 22 which saw, flanker, Will Hodgetts catch the ball and break the Bude defensive line to offload to winger Lewis Edwards, who raced over for the first try of the game, in the first few minutes of the match. The second try soon followed with Bude again kicking to relieve the pressure. The ball was caught by Richard Friend who passed the ball, and with some slick passing through the backs, resulted in prop, Aled Meredith joining the line to score close to the post .The kick was successfully converted by Richard Friend. Bude’s game improved and with 15 minutes on the clock, scrum half Richard Friend received a yellow card with 10 minutes in the sin bin. With the loss of the scrum half Bude began to utilise this weakness and raise their pace. Bude capitalised on this and with some good pressure they released their centre to score in the corner; converted with a superb touchline kick. This seemed to be the wakeup call for Launceston as they put Bude under immense pressure. A Launceston scrum on the Bude 5 metre line, saw the ball whipped out through the backs and with Martin Kneebone, from fullback, hitting the line at pace on a crash ball pass from Friend to cross the line to score. Bude again under pressure, soon conceded another try. From a ruck, 8 metres out, very similar to his first try, Kneebone joined the line at pace again to crash through for his second try. Converted by Glenn Coles. With a pick up and feed from the base of the scrum, by No. 8 Dave Parish, he offloaded to Friend at scrumhalf who outpaced the defence to score close to the posts. Conversion by Coles. Half time came with Launceston leading 31 points to 7.
The second half started in the same manner as the first ended, with Launceston scoring fairly soon from the re-start. From the base of a ruck 18 metres out, Parish picked up the ball and again fed Friend to race over for a try close to the posts. Successful conversion by Coles. Launceston stepped up the pressure yet again. With Bude attempting to run out of their own 22, Hodgetts intercepted a Bude pass to sprint away unchallenged to score. Try converted by Coles. Launceston’s superior fitness showed and started to show dominance. Another try soon followed when Dom Caton made a good break from half way and passed to the flying winger Lewis Edwards, who scored close to the posts. Another superb try by Edwards soon followed where from the base of a ruck on the halfway line, he picked up the ball, stepped and outpaced the defence to score a great individual try. Successfully converted by Coles. Final score Launceston 57 Bude 7.
Scores:
Tries: Lewis Edwards (3), Richard Friend (2), Martin Kneebone (2), Will Hodgetts (1), Aled….(1)
Conversion: Richard Friend (1), Glenn Coles (5)
Team:
Aled Meredith, Nathan Ferret, Fred Bulut, Cliff Rainford (Spike), William Perry, Ed Dudden, Mark Turton, Ryan Pill, Will Hodgetts, Dave Parish (c), Richard Friend, Glenn Coles, Ryan Christophers, Dom Caton, Mark Knight, Martin Kneebone, Lewis Edwards, Mark Quick, Jake Keat.