Helston U12s 7  Falmouth U12s 40

Last year's visit to Helston ended in disappointment with Falmouth beaten by a better-prepared and more dogged home side, writes Ché Osmond.

This time around Falmouth were determined to reverse their fortunes.

The early exchanges were evenly matched, with neither side able to impose any superiority on the game as possession changed hands quickly.

It took a feisty intervention by Finbar O’Connail to wrestle the ball away from the home side and set off downfield on one of his mazy runs to open the scoring, duly converted by Ollie Reed.
This changed the momentum of the game as Falmouth quickly regained possession and kept the home side pinned back in their own half.

Recycled ball was quickly moved out to Sam Ahearne, playing at centre, who circled around the defence and straight down the narrow side evading several would-be tacklers to touch down in the corner.

The home side was shocked into action and from the restart managed to push Falmouth deep into their own half and infringe at a ruck as they looked to keep possession.

Helston took a quick penalty and caught the visitors napping as they barged their way over the line for their opening try of the game. This proved to be one of their rare visits to the try line as Falmouth regrouped quickly with Finbar coming into the attacking line from fullback to snake his way in for his second try and extend Falmouth's lead.

With half time approaching Falmouth once again made camp in the Helston 22 and a quick penalty saw them move the ball wide for Joey, in his first game, to squeeze through the defence and score in the corner to leave the score 7-26 at half time.

Playing a full pitch meant plenty of space out wide but also made for tired legs and the break was a welcome sight for most of the players.

Refreshed, the initial phases of the second period were a cagey affair with Helston edging the set piece but Falmouth being quicker and more influential at the breakdown.

Slowly Falmouth began to take control and dominate possession and a powerful run by Isaac Wagland put them near the try line, possession was quickly recycled, allowing Jacob Allies to pop up and drive over the line, further extending the lead.

Fatigue was beginning to show on both sides and mistakes crept into the play but with Falmouth maintaining the upper hand in the contest Will Dell found himself in some space and ran a direct line, shrugging off several tackles, to score under the posts, making it 7-40 Falmouth at the final whistle.