PENRYN travelled down to Alexandra Road for this Cornish derby, the first league meeting between the clubs in nine years, writes Jonathan Plummer. 

Fortunately, the morning showers had passed to leave a dry but breezy day in front of a large crowd.

Penryn playing towards the clubhouse end of the ground had the early pressure and a St. Ives infringement gave James Salisbury a penalty in front of the posts which he converted to give The Borough an early lead.

St. Ives came straight back at Penryn and, gaining an edge up front, they made some powerful runs from their big pack leading to two tries in five minutes scored by Marty Turton and Will Perkin. The first of these was converted by Grant Thirlby to give the Hakes a 12 -3 lead after 15 minutes.

It was crucial for Penryn to score next and, gaining parity up front, they started to win penalties and gain territory, with another James Salisbury penalty cutting the lead to just six points. A dominant scrum by Penryn on the 22 gave the chance for no.8 Andrew Seviour to pick up and, after a powerful run, passed to centre James Salisbury who brushed off attempted tacklers to score by the posts. The conversion was charged down but Penryn were now just a point behind.

Penryn were soon back in St Ives territory, with the forwards making ground with every carry. Scrum-half Ben Rosevear dummied and dived for the line to score a brilliant team try. This time, Salisbury had no problem with the conversion.

St. Ives came straight back at Penryn in this end-to-end encounter and, following good hands between forwards and backs, Jamie Prisk scored in the corner. This time the conversion fell short.

There was still time for a Penryn chance and, after a knock on by St. Ives, Penryn kicked downfield. Only a knock on just metres from the line denied a certain try, leaving just a point in it at halftime with Penryn leading 18-17.

The second half was a much tighter affair. Both sides had chances to score with Penryn particularly not taking their try-scoring opportunities.

St. Ives retook the lead following a Grant Thirlby penalty kick to give the Hakes a two-point advantage going into the final quarter. Penryn battled hard to regain the lead and thought they had scored a try from close range only for the ref to rule it out for a knock-on.

St. Ives sealed the win with five minutes to go with Jamie Prisk getting his second try after some hard runs by the forwards for their bonus point try which Thirlby converted. Penryn tried to get back in the game in the last few minutes but were unable to break the St. Ives defence.

Final score: St Ives 27 - 18 Penryn

Penryn will feel disappointed not to take more from this match by not taking their try-scoring chances but credit to St. Ives who stay in third place in the league with Penryn dropping to seventh. There is a week off for Penryn next week, the next match being another Cornish derby against Pirates Amateurs on November 4 at the Memorial Ground.

There was better news for Penryn from earlier in the day with the Colts beating St. Austell 78 nil in another superb display of running rugby from backs and forwards.