Truro 17, Falmouth 22

THIS breathless derby had almost everything, but just when it looked as though the two teams would play out a draw, Falmouth’s Lee Humphrey popped up with a brilliant try to win it with the final play of the match, writes Matt Dixon.

Both teams took advantage of favourable conditions for running rugby, with a host of memorable tries punctuating a game brimming with enterprise and the occasional mistake.

Trailing 17-3 early in the second period, Falmouth were teetering on the brink before a wonderful individual try from Tom Edmonds sparked a thrilling recovery.

After dominating the opening exchanges of the second half, a clearance kick landed in the arms of Nick Carne and he spun the ball infield to full back Edmonds, who had joined the line.

With plenty of yards and defenders to negotiate, Edmonds set off on a mazy run leaving tacklers in his wake to cross under the posts for Justyn Irons to convert. Game on.

Seven minutes from time the Eagles were handed in the initiative when Truro flanker Sam Rhodes was sent to the bin and just a minute later the visitors were on level terms following a powerful drive which was touched down by Tim Gay.

Irons kicked the extras to level the scores and set up a nail-biting final five minutes.

Truro pressed for a winning score but Falmouth turned the ball over and sprung a brilliantly crafted attack, with the ball passing through numerous pairs of hands.

Wing Matt Poole made a great dash to within five yards of the left hand corner, before becoming perilously close to being hauled into touch. He managed to keep his composure and produce a finger-tip off-load to Lee Humphrey who gleefully crashed over to bring a stunning climax to a crack-a-jack of a game.

Truro had taken a sixth minute lead through a Ben Teasdale try, which went unconverted.

Irons then missed a penalty at the other end and Falmouth were forced to defend for much of the next 20 minutes, often inside their own five-metre line.

Finally Falmouth were able to clear their lines and several good bursts from Dave Jones resulted in a penalty which Irons despatched after 26 minutes.

Truro captain Jack Heazelton then made two mirror image breaks to set up tries for his backs.

The big lock found himself with space to run into on the right wing and he fed Luke Tidball, who put on the after burners and raced in unchallenged from the 22.

Ethan Tyler converted and when Heazelton turned over ball when Falmouth looked odds-on to score, he made more yardarge to the halfway line.

This time he set up full back Tyler to pin back his ears to touch down and convert his own try, putting Truro in command at 17-3.

Flanker Matt Brewer’s chip and chase almost gave Falmouth another score just before the break, but they had to be content with a solitary penalty to show for their efforts, before the fireworks of the second period unfolded.

Truro: E Tyler, G Badcock, L Tidball, M Symons, J Symons, S Evans, M Richards; D Jacques, B Teasdale, O Seagrove, J Martin, J Heazelton (capt), D Head, S Rhodes, J Tidball. Reps: S Teasdale.

Falmouth: T Edmonds, M Poole, D Jones, A Kindjarski, T Job, J Irons (capt), T Spiller, B Cock,T Gay, A Searle, J Baglow, T Ward, T TOnkins, M Brewer, S Bailey. Reps: A Varker, N Carne, L Humphrey, M Austin.