Saltash 22, Falmouth 32 Falmouth secured another victory on the road with a gritty performance against second-placed Saltash that edges the Eagles closer to the Cornwall/Devon League Title, writes Joseph Facey.

The fixture was moved to a different location with a 3G pitch due to weather conditions –  a surface which some players had never experienced before. Falmouth however overcame this challenge and played some excellent rugby to seal the win.

Head Coach Graham Whitmore was very pleased with his side’s win: “We always knew it was going to be an edgy game with the two best sides in the league. Both sides really went for it. To their credit Saltash came back and really got the momentum in the second half but it was a great defensive set up from us and I am really proud of them.

“We just need to keep kicking on, pushing on. We don’t stand still. We have got to commit them to finish something we have started. We want to finish this in style.”

Saltash started brightly and looked to get on the front foot and they got their reward for their early pressure with a try through Will Morton who showed great pace to run through and score the game’s first try.

Falmouth kicked on from that and looked to attack from the restart and a penalty converted by fly half Justyn Irons put them on the scoreboard.

After a thrilling opening 20 minutes Falmouth began to find their feet after an excellent low kick into touch by scrum half Tom Spiller. From the resulting lineout it was Spiller who sneaked over to score. Irons with the conversion to give Falmouth a 10-5 lead.

Falmouth were showing that the new surface was not a problem and scored two quick-fire tries to extend their lead. The first coming from Spiller after strong running from forward Matt Brewer. The second created by David Jones and finished by full back Tom Edmonds. Irons superbly kicked two further conversions and a penalty to extend the lead to 27-5.

Saltash did show some signs of a fightback and got a try before halftime through Olly Mulberry who darted through to score and make the score 27-11 at the break.

Falmouth were in the groove and were playing quality rugby. They scored again almost straight from the restart after neat play between front row Brad Cock and Brewer opened space for Edmonds to finish off a quality move for his second try and extend the lead to 32-10.

Saltash didn’t lie down and brought themselves back into the game. After a sin bin for Irons the home side responded with a try through Phil Eatwell. Shortly after this Saltash scored another try through second row Tom Rixson and put themselves right back into the match.

In his last game for the club before he leaves for Canada, forward Kelton Dawe put on a fine performance.

He was delighted with the team’s defensive efforts: “The boys played well today, we had to defend well because of the sin bin but we pulled through and everyone did really well.”

Falmouth host bottom of the table Tamar Saracens at the Recreation Ground on Saturday (2.30pm).

The video is produced and supplied by Kevin Bishop.