Camborne 32, Brixham 17

Camborne continued their unbeaten home run with a hard fought victory over Brixham that sees them remain top of the National Three SW table.

For ‘Town’ David Roberts returned to the side at No 8 whilst David Mankee again switched to scrum half with Taron Peacock having picked up an injury in training.

Heavy rain prior to the kick off meant conditions at the Rec were far from ideal for running rugby and it was the visitors who adapted the quicker going ahead early on with a converted try for a 7-0 lead.

From the restart Camborne's pack began to get on top and when Brixham conceded a penalty in front of the posts Mankee slotted the regulation kick to narrow the gap.

After an even period with defences dominating at both ends the home side cut the deficit further with a 32nd minute Mankee penalty and things stayed that way until the break.

Now playing down the slope Camborne began the 2nd period with a superb passage of play and a slick handling move finished off out wide by wing Josh Semmens. The reliable Mankee struck an excellent touchline conversion as his side took the lead for the first time in the match.

Brixham to their credit hit back quickly with a penalty on 44 minutes but the Cherry & Whites had their tails up and another fluent bout of handling saw the visitors’ defence breached for centre Jack Simmons to get the touchdown. Mankee again booted the extras to give the hosts a 20-10 advantage.

Despite now being in control Camborne could not put Brixham away and a converted try on the hour reduced the home lead to only three points. That was as close as it got however as Camborne upped their game in the last quarter on the back of their dominant pack dismantling the visiting eight at the scrummage.

The Cherry & Whites camped deep in Brixham territory for the final 10 minutes leading to two more well deserved tries. First Mankee fed the ball out from a scrum close to the line and young replacement wing Matt Blee jubilantly crashed over for a try on his debut. The bonus point score then duly arrived late on from a carbon copy move as Mankee’s pass this time found full back Murray Westren who did well to dot down.

Mankee added the conversion to seal the win and set Camborne up for the long trip to Gloucestershire this weekend and a tough test at Lydney.

Camborne: M Westren, J Semmens, J Simmons, R Kevern, B Drew, R Brownfield, D Mankee, M Hearn, S Bartle, J Drew, D Cook, B Kemp, J Goldsworthy, S Matavesi (capt), D Roberts. (Reps) A Zacharovas, M Blee, T Townsend

Scorers: tries, Semmens, Simmons, Blee, Westren ; cons, Mankee 3; pens, Mankee 2.