Falmouth Eagles fell agonizingly short of what would have been a heroic second half comeback as they were defeated 36-25 by Tiverton at the Recreation Ground.

Falmouth trailed 21-0 at the interval but mounted a rallying response after the break reducing the deficit to just nine points at the final whistle.

Nevertheless Josh Lord's side are now winless from their opening two Tribute Western West League matches which has them 11th in the table.

Falmouth were celebrating their first home match of their 150th year as a club and had entertainment from the Pasty Parade, Cadgwith Singers and the Falmouth Marine Band before the match.

Both sides impeccably observed a two minutes silence in memory of Her Majesty The Queen before Falmouth got the match underway.

The home side were inches away from scoring in the opening stages but were stopped just inches from the line by the visiting defence.

The visitors did grow into the game though and on the balance on play deserved their opener after 22 minutes.

It followed a poor piece of play as Falmouth cheaply gave the ball away with a loose pass to the Tivvy winger who gratefully regained possession before galloping down the touchline to score in the corner. The following kick was expertly put away by their fly half as they moved into a 7-0 lead.

Just four minutes later Tiverton doubled their lead in similar circumstances to the opening try, once again breaking free down the left flank to score in an almost identical position in the far corner, and once again the kick was perfectly dispatched for 14-0.

Falmouth's first half was plagued with unforced errors as the away side scored their third try of the game in the dying seconds of the half. They did well to keep the ball from a lineout just in Falmouth territory before their number eight burst through the lines toward the try line before unselfishly offloading the ball to his teammate to crash under the posts leaving a routine conversion and a 21 point lead at the break.

Falmouth head coach Josh Lord delivered some home truths to his side at the interval but that didn't stop his side from conceding first again just four minutes after the restart. Following a scrum in the centre of the park Tiverton swiftly moved down the right flank and some superb interplay between the centre and the winger saw them in to notch another under the posts earning them a bonus point for four tries. The kick was converted and the lead extended to 28-0.

Then followed a period of sustained spell of pressure from the home side as they really rallied to get back in the game and the next ten minutes would see them based just footsteps away from the try line. Eventually though they got their first score of the game when under a pile of bodies a Falmouth shirt was able to tap the ball down with 62 minutes played, a successful kick followed to make the score 7-28.

This was the first of three tries in six minutes as soon after Carne raced from the halfway line, leaving Tiverton defenders in his wake to score before Gay added to the scoring after the away side cheaply surrendered possession at a line out to make it 21-28 with 12 minutes still to play.

But hopes of what would have been a memorable comeback were quashed two minutes from time when Tiverton's full back scored their final try of the game. Falmouth could only clear their lines as far as the 15 on the ten metre line and he was able to dance around the offside Falmouth shirts and the last defender before scoring under the posts which was consequently converted to make it 21-36

The home side did have the last laugh in the final play though as they worked the ball well to Deavin who eased past two blue and white shirts to score but it was too little too late as the away side claimed the 26-35 win.

Falmouth did score a bonus point for notching four tries and their next match is away to fourth-placed Topsham next weekend.