Falmouth 13, Tiverton 28

Falmouth surrendered a slender half-time lead as they opened their 2019/20 Tribute Western Counties West campaign with a defeat at home to Tiverton.

The Eagles led early on thanks to a converted try by Nick Carne, only for Alex Pike to level the scored with a try of his own for Tiverton, before Matt Horton kicked over a pair of penalties to put Falmouth six points in front at the break.

But Tivvy moved up a few gears in the second half, running in three converted tries to secure a bonus-point victory.

There will have been a sense of excitement around the Rec as Falmouth got another season underway, and that excitement increased when winger Carne intercepted the ball on half way and ran it in under the posts to put the Eagles seven points up early on.

But the visitors, who won 39-22 when the teams last met at heir Coronation Field home in April, were back on terms a few minutes later when Pike went over following a period of pressure, with the resulting kick being converted to tie the scores.

Horton soon restored the hosts' lead when he kicked over a straight penalty from the 22 metre line, before adding another soon after following a spell of Eagles pressure, giving Falmouth a handy six-point advantage at the interval.

But the tide turned after the break as Tiverton wasted little time in getting on the front foot, with the visitors capitalising on a defensive lapse to run in their second try of the afternoon, with the conversion putting Tivvy in front for the first time.

The match remained finely poised until around 15 minutes to go when the visitors put a good move together before finishing in the corner. The conversion was successful once again to put Tivvy a clear score ahead of the Eagles.

Falmouth's chances of rescuing a losing bonus point were dashed late on when Tiverton went over to secure a bonus point of their own.

Falmouth: L Humphreys, D Hubble, J Wood, M Horton, N Carne, K Rodda, C Bullock; O Church, A Bullock, A Searle, J Martin, T Vincent, T Spiller (c), T Whittle, T Simmons. Reps: L Barkwill, T Ward, R Pugh.