By Joseph Macey
Falmouth scored a vital bonus point to secure their safety in the Tribute Western Counties West Division in a high scoring 43-29 loss against league winners St Ives.
Four tries and the bonus point secured by Centre Dan Goodwin meant The Eagles could not be caught at the bottom of the table by Torquay.
Falmouth Director of Rugby Graham Whitmore said: "We knew it was going to be a huge challenge for us but we set a target today to get at least a bonus point out of the game.
"We had a target of getting that bonus point and we stayed true to that and got the bonus point in the last three minutes of the game and that was a real testament to the resilience of the players and the character of the players."
Falmouth took the lead inside two minutes after they were awarded a penalty following a knock on and Justyn Irons kicked through the posts for 3 points.
The lead did not last long as The Hakes hit back on eight minutes, Paul Thirlby laid the ball off to Jamie Prisk to dive over with Rhys Brownfield adding the extras for 7-3.
St Ives began to show their league winning class and had another try two minutes later with Tom Nicholas sprinting through and Brownfield converting.
The Hakes soon extended their lead with tries from Rhys Brownfield and Peter Mabbott. Brownfield adding the extras for 26-3.
Falmouth did respond in the 30th minute after an interception from Kieran Rodda set him through to score and Irons converted, 26-10.
However just before half time St Ives mauled and found space through a crowd of players to force Rob Elloway over the try line and make the score 31-10.
The Eagles started well after the break and had two tries within ten minutes. Ollie Church and Mike Austin scoring to bring the score to 31-20 and Irons converting.
St Ives fought back to extend their lead from a second try from Elloway, conversion by Brownfield.
With the game coming to a close all nerves were eased as Goodwin scored the all important bonus point. Irons with another accurate conversion 38-29.
St Ives had the final say a minute later as Chris Quick pounced on a dropped catch to score with the full time score at 43-29.
This was the final game for Justyn Irons, Paddy Varker and Mark Lee who have been three stalwarts for the club and everyone at Falmouth wishes them well.
Man of the match: Mike Austin
Team:
1 A. Varker
