Penryn lose first league match of the season at St Ives

Penryn will be left to rue a poor start and missed chances for not winning the first league match of the season at Alexandra Road.

On a sunny but very windy day, it was St Ives who had the breeze at their backs in the first half.

It was the Hakes who made a much stronger start, and they opened the scoring after ten minutes when fullback Matthew Turton went over after weak Penryn defence.

Turton converted his own try and St Ives led 7-0.

St Ives extended their lead a few minutes later when second row Will Perkin crashed over.

This time, the conversion went wide in the breezy conditions, but the home side led 12-0.

The Borough then had their best spell of the first half and had several phases in the St Ives 22.

They did manage to get over the tryline only for prop Angus Williams to be held up, and the Hakes managed to clear their lines.

St Ives made their way up the pitch with the help of the strong wind and went over for their third try when winger Fletcher Kelly crossed over on the half-hour mark.

Again, the tricky conversion slipped wide.

There was more bad news for Penryn when Ollie Kingsbury was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle, and the home side made it 20-0 just before half time when Turton converted a penalty after another Penryn infringement.

It was a first half that Penryn will want to forget, conceding too many penalties and making several unforced errors.

Penryn were a different side in the second half when playing with the wind and got their first try of the match after five minutes.

After several phases in the St Ives 22, prop Jackson Cardnell broke through, and after an excellent offload to centre James Salisbury, the Penryn skipper scored underneath the posts.

Salisbury converted his own try.

Penryn were now firmly on the front foot and got their second try when centre Billy Jordan crashed over.

Again, Salisbury converted, and Penryn only trailed by just six points with twenty minutes remaining.

St Ives were reduced to 14 men when they were given a red card for an off-the-ball incident.

Penryn went in search of the winning try and thought they got the decisive try when Salisbury went over, only for the referee to decide he was held up and didn’t ground the ball.

Strong St Ives defence held Penryn out for the remaining minutes, and the Borough couldn’t break through.

This is a match that Penryn will feel was for the winning, but a poor first half cost them dearly, and they could not quite complete the comeback in the second half.

This Saturday, Penryn welcome Kingsbridge to the Memorial Ground for their first home league match of the season.

Kick-off is at 2.30pm.