Camborne 15 Cleve 6

Camborne are right back in the South West One title race after a superb victory over the League leaders courtesy of a fine committed team performance in treacherous conditions at the Recreation Ground.

Town  reshuffled their threequarter line with Laurie Manna coming in on the left wing but on the day it was the home forwards in particular who hit top form with lock Ben Kemp and prop Will Webster prominent in their driving play.

In persistent rain despite facing the slope the Cherry & Whites were on top throughout a scoreless first quarter.

With the visitors down to 14 men after a yellow card Camborne made them pay by taking the lead on 22 minutes.  A penalty was punted to the corner and the pack charged fully 20 metres in an unstoppable catch and drive for Sam Bartle to dot down. Scrum half David Mankee unluckily saw his conversion come back off a post.

Soon after it got worse for Cleve when Bartle’s speculative pass was superbly taken by Alex Ducker who sped up field before offloading to centre James Briant who’s well timed pass sent right wing Rob Floyd racing over wide out for a 10-0 lead.

As the interval neared a rare Cleve attack brought a simple penalty slotted by Joe Hall to make it 10-3 at the break.

From the restart the visitors camped in the home 22 for a long period but time and time again superb home defence held firm restricting the opposition’s scoring to just a further penalty by fly half Hall.

The crucial moment of the 2nd period arrived on 58 minutes with full back Ducker setting off on a dazzling 40 metre run. Though he was halted by the final tackler he kept the ball alive and the Cherry & Whites pack laid siege to the Cleve line for hooker Bartle to squeeze over for his 2nd decisive try.

On an increasingly heavy pitch Hall soon missed with a long range penalty and the remainder of the game was played out with Camborne in control as they went on to claim a vital win that rekindles their interest in the promotion places.

Camborne face a tricky away game with Clevedon this weekend.

Camborne:, Alex Ducker, Rob Floyd, James Briant, Steve Kenward (capt), Laurie Manna, Grant Thirlby, David Mankee, Will Webster, Sam Bartle, Leigh Hocking, Ben Kemp, John Griffiths, Martin Woolcock, Cameron Bone, David Roberts

Reps: Nigel Endean, George Hall, Jason Jackson

Tries Bartle 2, Floyd