PENRYN'S 24-20 defeat at home to Wellington on Saturday was “representative of their season”, according to forwards coach Gareth Tedstone, writes Sam Moore.
A last minute penalty try gave the game away for Borough in what was their last home match of the Tribute Western Counties West season.
On a warm but windy day, Penryn had come out of the first half on top 17-10 thanks to tries from Jack Willey and Andrew Seviour, both converted, and a penalty from Matt Horton.
A strong headwind and a lack of discipline in the second half proved costly for Borough, however, and a penalty for tackling off the ball lead to a try for Wellington's blindside flanker.
Then, in the dying minutes of the game, a penalty try was awarded, penalising Penryn for rotating a five metre scrum.
After the game, Tedstone said: “Ill-discipline and poor game management cost us dearly in the end.
“We should have come away with a win but we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Tom Hoban offloads the ball. Picture: CORNISHPHOTOS
Wellington only managed two scores in a closely contested first 40 minutes with a try from outside centre George Cooper, converted by Matt Parson who then added to the score with a late penalty.
Penryn controlled the game well, respecting a referee who was not afraid of reversing penalty decisions if faced with back-chat.
A left wing break in the 23rd minute saw the ball finding its way into the hands of Willey, who dived over in the left corner to give Penryn their first score of the half which Horton expertly converted the difficult angle.
Strick had a chance to take Penryn ahead three points with a 30th minute penalty, but the ball fell short.
A knock-on from the restart gave Borough a second scoring opportunity as Horton instigated a break, offloading to Seviour who wormed his way through the defence and dotted down.
Things were not so smooth in the second half, with a strong headwind causing trouble for Penryn's kickers and tiring the pack.
A sin-binning in the 50th minute for Seviour also gave Wellington an advantage.
Careless tackling off the ball gave the visitors a chance to make gains into Penryn's 22, with a rolling maul allowing Davy to dive down, making it 17-17 after a successful conversion.
Penryn did their best to move ahead, but could not break Wellington's solid defence to make it to the whitewash with a penalty their only reward before the visiting pack dealt the final blow.
In the dying moments of the game a series of scrums five metres from the home side's line were repeatedly wheeled, leaving referee James Milliner no choice but to award a penalty try.
Borough's scrum-half Nathan Strick moves the ball out from a ruck. Picture: CORNISHPHOTOS
“You couldn't really argue with that decision,” said Tedstone after the game.
“Their pack had us under the cosh for the past 10 - 15 minutes in the scrum and from the players' accounts it was a fair penalty try.
“Game management is something we'll be looking to work on in our match next week as we have to be able to close out these kinds of games.
“Hopefully we can finish the season with a big win we desperately need.”
Penryn's final a game of the season is away at Sidmouth next week and the team will be hoping for a similar result to when they last met at the beginning of the season, when Borough won 25-10.
PENRYN: 15 Creeden, 14 Chambers, 13 Vague, 12 Seviour, 11 Willey, 10 M Strick, 9 N Strick; 1 Oldfield, 2 Booth, 3 Williams, 4 Ashwin, 5 Hughes, 6 Jones (c), 7 Hoban, 8 Randlesome.
REPS: Burley, Hinchley, Horton.
TRIES: Willey, Seviour.
CONS: Horton 2/2.
PENS: Horton (2).
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here