Camborne 31 - Taunton 38
Camborne went down to a first home league defeat in nearly two years to concede the double to Taunton and see their lead at the top of National Two West cut to ten points.
The visitors, inspired by their player/coach Ratu Vakalutukali, deservedly took the spoils, with the veteran No 8 having a hand in all three tries prior to scoring the decisive touchdown late on.
In a breathless opening half of no less than fifty-one points, Town made a dream start with Ben Priddey barging over from close range for Rory O’Kane to add the extras.
Although Taunton quickly hit back with an unconverted score, the Cherry & Whites responded with wing Alex Ducker over in the corner and fly-half O’Kane converting superbly from the touchline for 14-5.
Still inside the first quarter, the visitors closed the gap with a brace of Tom Putt penalties before Camborne bagged a third try run in by lock Shaun Buzza on 23 minutes, again improved by O’Kane.
Town promptly added the try bonus point when full-back Kyle Moyle’s inside pass allowed wing Robin Wedlake to romp over, but Taunton hit back immediately with a converted score for 26-18.
Crucially, as the interval neared, the visitors were fortunate not to concede a penalty try when a close-range maul was pulled down and instead, when the home side failed to capitalise, Taunton swept downfield for a converted try and a 26-25 half-time scoreline.
Following the excitement of the opening period, it was ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’ in the second half as a tense stop-start affair developed with neither side creating many chances.
With the slope in their favour, an out-of-sorts Camborne eventually increased their advantage on 55 minutes when hooker Priddey was driven over for his 36th touchdown of the season.
Trailing 31-25, the visitors needed a solitary converted score to snatch the lead, and when the chance came inside the last ten minutes, it was fittingly Vakalutukali who delivered with a thundering 40-metre run to the line.
The reliable boot of Putt duly slotted the vital conversion, and he added two more penalties late on to leave the visitors celebrating a memorable victory.
Camborne: K Moyle, R Wedlake, W Hennessy, J Matavesi, A Ducker, R O’Kane, CJ Boyce, J Andrew, B Priddey, B Watson, S Buzza, A Hughes, S Matavesi, J Nicholls, H Stupple (reps), S Rodman, A Rolls, J Prisk, D Roderick, F Love
Camborne: tries; Priddey 2, Ducker, Buzza, Wedlake con; O’Kane 3.
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