WADEBRIDGE Camels brought an era to a fitting end by lifting the St Austell Brewery Cornwall Cup with a hard-fought victory at a windy Molesworth Field on Saturday.
It is a decade since Mike Rawlings took over as head coach at the Camels, but together with his coaching staff of brother Tom and Matt Bailey, they are standing down at the end of this campaign.
They are still in the Papa Johns national cup after beating Truro, but if this does prove to be the last piece of first-team silverware, it could not have been a better send-off.
Mike said: “It has been fantastic from year one to year 10 and it has been my most enjoyable years of rugby ever really.
“I am gutted to be leaving, it is not something I wanted to be doing really, because there is a lot more rugby left in me yet, but it is time now to spend with the family, recharge the batteries, get a few more green passes off the wife built up, and then see what happens in September and October, and see where rugby takes me.”
Looking back over those 10 years, Mike added: “I have learnt lots of lessons myself. From where my coaching was in year one to where it is in year 10, I have developed massively, and that’s not down to myself, it is down to these boys, whether it is teaching me how to handle personalities, or whether it is learning new things around training, these guys have influenced me hopefully as much as I have influenced them.”
Looking back on the game itself, Mike explained: “We always find it difficult in these local derbies, these bigger events. we seem to kind of go away from our game a little bit because we feel we have to beat sides up, rather than just flowing into our rugby and letting that do our talking.
“The second we picked up our pace and changed our attack we were all over them, and we are our own worst enemy at times. It is a lesson we have been trying to fix but it is somebody else’s responsibility now!”
He added: “The friendship I have built with Colin (Matt Bailey) over the years has been fantastic and he is one of my closest friends now, and Tom came in for the season we went 22 wins from 22 games, and then came fourth in the league – our highest league finish; then second in the league – our highest league finish; and now the Cornwall Cup, and he brings a helluva influence and a helluva lot of experience into the camp.
“We haven’t said we won’t be back here again in the future, it is just a break, and we will see what happens in the future.”
Camels had the benefit of the strong wind behind their backs in the first half but it was a pretty scrappy affair and it was 6-3 to the hosts after 25 minutes, with two Danny Thomas penalties to one from Will Hennessy for Truro.
The closest Camels came to a try came in the 22nd minute when lively full-back Olly Aggiss made a run down the left inside the 22 but the final pass did not quite go to hand.
Truro’s scrum was causing problems at this stage, but their cause was not helped just past the half-hour mark when tight-head prop Ollie Seagrove – playing his last game for Truro before relocating with his job - was sin-binned for a high tackle on Camels winger Jack Counter.
While he was off, Truro conceded the game’s first try, but they were architects of their own downfall. They overthrew a line-out and the ball was gleefully gathered by hooker Callum Bate who drove forward. A penalty was awarded by Devon referee Ian Strawbridge for not releasing the tackled player, it was quickly taken and Camels legend and No.8 Herbie Stupple was driven over, with Thomas converting for a 13-3 interval lead.
Wadebridge started the second half in lively fashion, with a great break through the middle by winger Dom Hawkey ringing alarm bells in the visiting camp.
It got Camels into the 22, and after a period of pressure, lock Darren Livett – who had an excellent game – took a quick tap penalty and crashed over, and even though Thomas missed the conversion into the wind, it made it 18-3, putting Camels three scores clear and it seemed a very long way back for Truro.
However, they were not going away without a fight and came storming back into the contest with two tries in a seven-minute spell.
The first came from skipper Dan Head beneath the posts after several phases of pressure inside Wadebridge’s 22, with Hennessy converting, and then winger Matt Blewett brilliantly weaved his way to the line, and all of a sudden it was a three-point ball game at 18-15.
It made it a very tense watch for the home faithful in the closing stages as Truro sought a way to take the lead for the first time in the match.
Home nerves were calmed, though, very late in the game when another great run by Aggiss was taken on by centre Will Pengelly, and when the ball came loose, replacement back rower Ben Johnson hacked on and dived on the ball to score the try that sealed victory, saw captain Adam Blackmore lift the trophy in front of the delighted main stand, and give the coaching staff the perfect send-off.
It was a good day all round for the club, as their second team beat Redruth Seconds 19-13 in the Duchy Cup semi-final, which preceded the Cup final, and they will now meet either St Austell Seconds or Camborne Seconds in the final.

Wadebridge: Olly Aggiss, Dom Hawkey, Will Pengelly, James Grubb, Jack Counter, Danny Thomas (vc), Owen Wilson, Rich Treleaven, Callum Bate, Shawn Hartley, Darren Livett, Mark Grubb, Adam Blackmore (capt), Will Symons, Herbie Stupple. Replacements: Aiden Cullis, Max Cardwell, Mike Rawlings, Ben Thomas, Ben Johnson, Rhys Bright, Ieuan Evans.

Truro: Ben Bebb, Lewis Bostock, Dec Matthews, Ben Drew, Matt Blewett, Will Hennessy (capt), Josh Anderson, Lewis Carne, Luis Powell, Ollie Seagrove, Matt Symons, Ross Denning, Tom Duncan, Dan Head (capt), Jack Tidball. Replacements: Andre Hicks, Darren Symons, Shaun Buzza, Dan Bennett, James Martin, Liam Wilson, Josh Symons.

Wadebridge: Tries – Stupple, Livett, B Johnson; Con – D Thomas; Pens – D Thomas (2); Truro: Tries – Head, Blewett; Con – Hennessy; Pen – Hennessy.

Referee: Ian Strawbridge.
Assistant referees: Nick Cooper & Simon Bishop.

CRFU Man of the match: Mark Grubb (Wadebridge).
Camels coaches Man of the match : Adam Blackmore.