Bragging Rites to Withycombe

Falmouth are the latest to fall foul of free-scoring Withycombe as the Hulham Road boys extended their unbeaten run at the summit of the Cornwall & Devon league.

Falmouth took the lead with a penalty on ten minutes but the rest of the half was one way traffic with Withycombe's pack once again spearheading the charge. A scrum against the head gave quick blindside ball to stand-off Gunboat Channing, whose fleetness of foot took him round the hapless Falmouth winger to score in the corner. After adding a penalty, some good hands from the forwards gave Matt Bragg a debut try, Liam Cullen and the evergreen Dave Sims providing the assist. Falmouth hit back with a penalty on 29 minutes before Withycombe put the game to bed with an explosive ten minute spell.

First Glenn Channing scored a carbon copy of his first try...Almost. Having crossed the whitewash, Channing tried to make the conversion attempt easier but got held up over the line in the process. This only postponed matters as at the ensuing scrum the Withycombe pack gifted No.8 Mike Richards yet another 30cm barnstormer of a try. Channing ended up nailing the conversion from the touchline to add insult to his injured pride.

A break from a midfield scrum by Richards then played man of the match Eugene Badenhorst in, only for the South African to be penalised for a double movement in the act of scoring. After ambitiously tapping on their own line, Falmouth then turned the ball over and John Parkin scored under the posts at the Brook End after a couple of phases. Withycombe then put the exclamation point on the first stanza with a stunning move right from the kickoff. Badenhorst got the move started and after some good link play from the Parkin brothers, Jack Pugsley and Badenhorst again, Joe Parkin crossed the line to make it 34-6 at the break.

In the second half things slowed down a bit as Withycombe took their foot of the accelerator. Glenn Channing's incisive passing allowed Aaron Conway to put Danny Sansom in at Clubhouse Corner, before Falmouth hit back with a try of their own. Kevin Rodwell was a victim of his own enthusiasm as he was sin binned within seconds of taking the field, and Falmouth pounced on the reeling 14 men of Withycombe to claw back some dignity. Withycombe did manage one more try, a charactieristic score from Eugene Badenhorst as he ripped the ball from a Falmouth player on the Falmouth five metre line, before charging through two people for five points.

Withycombe visit Teignmouth in the Devon Intermediate Cup next week before D-Day at second-placed Saltash on the 15th.

Withycombe: Jack Pugsley (1T), Sam Conway, Aaron Conway, Jack Pugsley, Joe Parkin (1T, YC), Glenn Channing (1T, 4C, 1P), John Parkin (1T), Dave Wellbeloved, Liam Cullen, Phil Sluman, Matt Bragg (1T), Dave Sims, Eugene Badenhorst (1T, MoM), Simon Tozer, Mike Richards (1T). Reps: Max Cooke, Richard Hodges, Kevin Rodwell (YC).