Falmouth One & All travelled to Saltash on Saturday 12th January for a Duchy League game. Before the game the teams observed a minutes silence in memory of Richard Albury a club stalwart whose son Sam plays at prop for the team.
Against a big pack of forwards Falmouth started the stronger but failed to take advantage of their field position & subsequently conceded a try to Saltash after a series of pick and goes from their forwards with the big number 4 finally crashing over from short range.
Undeterred Falmouth fought back & a lengthy period of possession inside the Saltash 22 forced them into mistakes culminating in their left winger being yellow carded after a tip tackle on Sandy Sanders that stopped him just short of the try line. However this sustained period of pressure was finally rewarded with a try by Kaden Cobb which was converted by scrum half Piers Garway- Thompson to give Falmouth a 7-5 lead at half time.
After the break Saltash made better use of the wind and slope and much of the play was in the Falmouth half. The deadlock was broken when the Saltash seven went over for their second try but again the conversion was missed leaving the score 10-7 to the home team with 20 minutes remaining.
Saltash lost a second player to the bin for illegal use of the boot to the head of wing Luke Waters & Falmouth continued to press for the winning score. A sustained period of attacking rugby was rewarded 2 minutes from time with a try in the right hand corner for Scott Dunstan ably assisted by Harvey Spear. A difficult conversion was missed but Falmouth led 12-10 with just time for a final restart by Saltash.
A long kick with the wind forced a knock on & the agonising last minute was played out 5 meters from the Falmouth line but ultimately a clever piece of play by skipper Cameron Bullock forced Saltash offside at the ruck & all that was left was for Falmouth to kick the ball out and win the game by 12-10.
Falmouth' s man of the match was Harvey Spear and special mention should be made of the 4 members of the Garway- Thompson clan who all played a full 80 minutes. Piers & brother JB for Falmouth & Dad Hugh & brother Goose who made up the numbers for Saltash.
Match report and photos by Martin Webb.
