Saturday,?April 7
Tribute South West One (West)
Cornish All Blacks 27
Drybrook 31
THE Cornish All Blacks fell to their first league defeat of the year as they lost 31-27 to new leaders Drybrook at Polson Bridge on Saturday.
The All Blacks rocketed into a 15-0 lead inside 25 minutes with Ben Hawke touching down twice as well as adding a conversion and a penalty, but the visitors worked their way back into the game to score 31 unanswered points either side of the break.
Despite a late penalty try and one of the tries of the season from Jon Dawe, the home side couldn’t grab the final score needed to pull off the greatest of comebacks.
The All Blacks hadn’t played since their 16-10 victory at Cullompton a fortnight previously but made a couple of changes as they looked to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 11 matches.
In the forwards, Jake Crabb replaced Brandon Rowley at blindside-flanker with Brandon Rowley dropping to the bench.
Behind the scrum saw the same personnel apart from Dan Pearce coming into the side on the wing for fly-half Reuben Edwards, which allowed Tom Sandercock to move into the number ten position.
The All Blacks have had a tendency to start slowly in recent weeks but it was their turn to come storming out of the blocks.
Hawke slotted over an early penalty before he touched down twice inside the opening quarter of the game.
First, Pearce, running in off the wing, took a pass from player/coach Ryan Westren before making a 15-metre break. As he was tackled he managed to pass the ball to Hawke who got the better of the winger and full-back to go over in the right-hand corner.
Although Hawke missed the kick, he was soon touching down again.
From a scrum, skipper Lloyd Duke played a onw-two with scrum-half Shaun Crawford before making a break, which saw him tap-tackled.
However in mid-air he somehow managed to offload the ball to the onrushing Hawke, who sprinted to the line unopposed from 25 metres.
He slotted the easiest of conversions and the visitors were in trouble.
Despite the setback, Drybrook were up for the fight as they looked to chase down Exeter University in the race for the title.
Before half-time they had reduced the deficit to just five points as winger Tom Treherne slotted a penalty before finishing off an excellent move down the left-wing, which involved fly-half Ben Large and inside-centre Harry Howard.
The second-half started with the Greens again in charge and they went in front of 49 minutes when Large exploited some slack home defending to scythe through a gap and run in under the posts.
Treherne again converted and Drybrook had a two-point lead.
Despite going in front they continued to go for it, and were rewarded with a try on the counter-attack.
The home side’s backs coughed up possession in the Drybrook 22, which allowed one of their players to make a near 80-yard run towards the line.
Although, Jon Dawe showed great pace to get back and make the tackle just short of the line, a couple of quick phases ended with second-row Glenn Nott scoring from a metre out, which Treherne converted once more.
Drybrook had lost just twice all season and it showed as they continued to dominate proceedings.
With 15 minutes remaining, more good work involving the backs allowed right-winger Mitch Baldwin to cross as they stretched their advantage to 16 points.
Although Launceston were being dominated, they knew that they still had a chance, and they started to use their scrum to get back into the game.
After a series of penalties from scrums, which saw the referee fail to give a penalty try, they utilised their backs before being given another penalty.
Once more the scrum was dominant and the referee decided to award them a penalty try, which reduced the gap to nine points.
There were less than five minutes on the clock, meaning the All Blacks really needed to score from the kick-off, and that’s exactly what they did.
After Crawford had caught the restart, the ball was eventually given to Dawe inside his own 22. Knowing he had no option but to run, the inside-centre broke two tackles before embarking on a remarkable 60-metre burst and then passing to his brother, Harry.
Harry Dawe then ran inside before releasing a remarkable football throw-in type pass for Jon Dawe to brilliantly collect and fall over the line despite the best efforts of the full-back.
Although Hawke missed the kick there were two minutes remaining, and despite a couple of hairy moments for the visitors after they failed to make a penalty kick attempt, Drybrook held on for a remarkable victory, which was made even sweeter by the news that they’d risen to the top of the table following Exeter University’s loss at Keynsham.
All Blacks skipper, Lloyd Duke, admitted that despite letting a 15-point advantage slip, there was much to be encouraged about.
He said: “It’s disappointing a result but looking back at the game on video it’s arguably the best we’ve played all season. Yes we’re disappointed to lose, but we’re pretty pleased with our performance.
“In the first 25 minutes we dominated everything and although they then took control until half-time, we did pretty well.
“At the break we felt that we were in control for large parts, but we knew that we needed to get it back as soon as possible and that didn’t really happen.
“Saying that, once they scored their fourth try to go 31-25 up we then took complete control and had about 90%?of possession. It was weird that we both had about 40 minutes each of the game with us the first 25 and the last 15 and them inbetween.
“But the difference was that we weren’t quite as clinical as them. We made a couple of mistakes and that was ultimately the difference.
“Saying that, the supporters were extremely positive after and said that they couldn’t have asked for much more.
“We know that we’re still an inexperienced team and in time it’ll come but we were happy with the performance, so we’ll get ready for Exeter Uni on Saturday.”
The University have lost four times in recent months, including throwing away a 33-17 lead to lose 36-33 at struggling Keynsham on Saturday, which saw them drop to second, but despite Exeter able to choose from a plethora of players, Duke is confident of reversing the agonising 20-19 defeat at Polson Bridge in December.
He said: “Exeter have have lost a few recently but they’re a funny side as they have a different team each week.
“But we’ll go there with plenty of confidence after the Drybrook game and we’ll definitely be looking to win.”
The All Blacks’ defeat to Drybrook coupled with Newent’s victory over Clevedon on Saturday means that with just two games remaining, the third-placed Cornishmen’s lead has been cut to four points.
However Duke is confident that they’ll keep the Gloucestershire-based club at bay.
He said:?“We know that the challenge is there from Newent, but we know that if we win our last two games then they can’t catch us, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”
The All Blacks’ penultimate game of the season on?Saturday at Exeter University kicks off at 3pm.
Cornish All Blacks —
Kneebone, Pearce,?Westren, J Dawe, Hawke, Sandercock, Crawford; Bentham, Bulut, Z Cinnamond, Williams, Goldsmith, Crabb, L Duke (captain), Clarke
Replacements: R Cinnamond, Rowley, H Dawe
Tries: Hawke 2, penalty try, J Dawe
Convs: Hawke
Pens: Hawke