Falmouth 12, St Austell 12

THIS Cornish derby between two sides at the opposite end of the Western Counties table could not be separated after 80 minutes of compelling rugby, writes Chris Jones.

Despite the two points gained for a draw, Falmouth lose ground on the rest of the field and drop down into 13th but only six points separates them from Truro in seventh, with three games remaining.

St Austell maintain their position in second and look well-set for a very high finish.

The Saints had the better of what was a very close opening 10 minutes and they almost had a try within the first five however Ben Chenoweth was adjudged to have put a foot into touch before he could put the ball down.

But it was the Eagles who had the first say of the game after Matt Poole scored in the 20th minute when Tom Edmonds collected Justyn Iron’s kick before offloading to the supporting centre who put the ball down in the left corner to make it 5-0.

Falmouth were then delivered a huge blow when Anthony Geach was sent to the bin on the half-hour mark.

And Falmouth were punished in the 38th when St Austell scored their first try of the game after a series phases led to Peter Rowe diving over the line after picking from the back of a ruck. Liam Freeman converted the try giving the Saints the lead at 7-5.

The away side were in the ascendancy and were even further in front at 12-5 only five minutes after the break when George Knowles received the ball in space out wide and he powered over the line in the left corner.

Falmouth regained their composure and were back level in the 52nd minute of play when Tom Simmons picked from the back of a scrum in the St Austell 22 before being tackled just before the line.

But the run had created room and from the resulting ruck prop Ollie Andrews was able to crash over the line under the posts and create an easy conversion for Irons, who made it 12-12.

Falmouth were the better side in the latter stages and had chances to take the win late on, but a missed penalty from Irons in the 68th minute and a handling error from Johnny Wood when he seemed through on goal in the 72nd meant that they had to be content with a draw.

Falmouth: O Andrews, AJ Geach, A Searle, J Baglow, S Somers, S BAiley, T Spiller, T Simmons, M Austin, J Irons (capt), M Lea, T Edmonds, M Poole, D Goodwin, M Horton. Reps: O Church, K Vinson, J Wood.