Falmouth 3, Saltash 12

Battling chilling winds and an aggressive squad, the Eagles failed to deliver away at Saltash on Saturday, writes Charles Currie.

The team were to only put three points on the board in the 13th minute, thanks to a penalty kick from Tom Edmonds.

The game was filled with sloppy passes and slow play from both teams. Falmouth dominated the scrum throughout the match, but were let down again by their lineout in the harsh winds.

Falmouth second row Trev Ward said: “Very disappointing game actually… We missed quite a few lineouts today. Wind was tough for both teams, but I think they dealt with it better”.

It was Saltash who would gain seven points in the 15th minute, followed by another five in the 50th, despite being two players down for some time due to yellow cards being issued.

Head coach, Graham Whitmore, said: “We just lacked accuracy… Even with two players sin binned we didn’t take advantage of that… The bottom line though was that we just missed so many opportunities to score.”

The Eagles came out with some real purpose at the beginning of the second half. In particular Falmouth captain Tom Spiller, who put in some amazing breaks.

Despite the side fighting on Saltash’s try line several times, their defence was too strong. Poor handling and not using the support available meant the ball was soon turned over, and with great kicks and breaks from fast wingers, Saltash were able to make up a lot of ground.

A missed penalty kick by Alex Tacchi in the final ten minutes attested the teams fate. They were not to come back.

Jon Baglow outlined a few issues within the squad, saying: “I think there’s just a bit of a lack of cohesion sometimes… And our training hasn’t had enough numbers the past couple of weeks”.

The Eagles are to take on Sidmouth at home this coming Saturday. Without a doubt, they will be reflecting and learning from their mistakes to ensure they can come back out with some fight.