Hakes Tame Lions

St Ives 69 : 6 Hayle

Last Saturday at Alexandra Road St Ives welcomed their local rivals Hayle in their latest match in the Tribute Cornwall & Devon League. Before the match a reunion of players past and present was held in the clubhouse with many faces from years gone by attending.

Head coach Paul Thirlby named a strong side as the Hakes looked for their 4th straight win of the season; Neil Corin returned on the flank along with Louis Stevens, a strong bench was also named with Tony Stevens providing front row cover along with Guy Pallett and newcomer Sam Carter.

The St Ives players took to the field in their pink coloured match shirts which they were wearing in aid of the charity Cancer Research in brilliant sunshine, the first points of the game however went the way of the Hayle side when after only 2 minutes of play the referee penalised the St Ives players for an infringement in front of the posts, Hayle number 10 Damian Lynes stepped up and converted the kick to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead.

Despite going behind the St Ives players were in determined mood, only 3 minutes later a series of penalties saw them begin to pressurise the Hayle try line and when the pack formed a maul in the Hayle 22 there was little the visitors could do to prevent it trundling over the line for second row Jamie Prisk to dot down the ball and score St Ives first points of the afternoon, Grant Thirlby converted to put St Ives ahead by 7 points to 3.

The St Ives players began to get into their stride during the next few minutes and next it was the backs who made an impact, on 17 minutes the ball was moved wide to the St Ives left along the back line, a good combination saw the ball finally find its way into the hands of full back Lewis Thomas who finished the move off well in the corner, the difficult conversion was missed but the Hakes were now ahead by 12 points to 3.

Once again in the 22nd minute the Hayle players found themselves pressed back into their own 22 following a series of penalties awarded to the home side, the pressure was converted into points in the 24th minute in fine style by St Ives number 8 Martyn Lawrance who forced himself over the line to score St Ives third try of the match, once again Thirlby converted to put the Hakes in control at 19 points to 3.

With the St Ives players in no mood to relieve the pressure on their local rivals they recycled the ball from the restart until some space was made out wide on their left, the ball was passed swiftly wide into the arms of second row Tom Chandler who collected the ball just outside his own 22, he looked up and saw only Hayle full back and former St Ives player Rob Rowe in front of him, as he brushed aside the challenge of the full back he showed good pace to sprint all the way unchallenged to score a fine individual try under the Hayle posts and secure the all important bonus point, once again Thirlby converted to give the Hakes a dominant lead of 26 points to 3.

Following the 4th St Ives try Hayle enjoyed their best period of the match with a good 10 minute spell camped in the St Ives 22, despite the pressure from the visitors the home side defended well with good discipline and commitment to prevent Hayle from scoring. When the St Ives defence eventually cleared its lines it put the Hakes on the front foot again and in the 37th minute they found themselves deep in Hayle territory again, this time it was flanker Neil Corin who carved a superb line through the Hayle defence to score the Hakes fifth try of the afternoon, Thirlby converted again to put the Hakes further ahead by 33 points to 3.

As the clock ticked over the 40 minute mark in what was the final play of the half once again the ball was forced over the line by number 8 Lawrance for his second try of the match, the conversion from the wide position was missed and the referee brought the half to an end with St Ives in total control of the match leading by 38 points to 3.

The second half was another display of power rugby from the St Ives pack, it wasn’t long before they opened the scoring in the second period, once again number 8 Martyn Lawrance capped his man of the match performance with his third try of the game on the 45 minute mark, the wide conversion was missed but the home crowd did not have to wait very long before there was more action on the Hayle try line. Ten minutes later in the 56th minute second row Jamie Prisk grabbed his second try of the match when he showed good strength to force his way over following an attacking St Ives lineout, this time Thirlby kicked the conversion to extend the St Ives lead to 50 points to 3.

With little or nothing coming in the way of attack from the Hayle players the St Ives domination of the game continued, in the 61st minute replacement Sam Carter grabbed his first try of the season following a break from Louis Stevens who unselfishly off loaded the ball at the perfect moment to give Carter the chance to score, again Thirlby converted; 57 – 3 to the Hakes.

With the Hakes beginning to run riot it was Louis Stevens himself who next got on the score sheet following a trademark St Ives catch and drive move from a lineout, the conversion was missed but the St Ives lead was 62 points to 3. To complete the St Ives packs dominance of the game it was another forward move which secured the Hakes their last points of the match, in the 74th minute Jamie Prisk once again found himself at the back of a maul, as the St Ives pack trundled over the Hayle try line once more he pounced to score his third try of the match in front of the clubhouse much to the delight of the numerous home supporters, Thirlby once again successfully kicked the conversion to give St Ives a 69 points to 3 advantage.

The game ended in similar fashion to the way it began with Hayle number 10 Damian Lynes successfully kicking a penalty to round off the action with the final score 69 points to 6.

Following the match the St Ives Director of Rugby Joff Rowe commented; ‘I would like to congratulate the whole club on a fantastic day on and off the pitch, as with all local derbies the win is very important to us even if sometimes it is to the detriment of how we perform, Hayle gave us some real problems today but I felt we dealt with them very well and managed to go on and score some excellent tries. It is difficult for us to assess our true performance until we are placed under the same pressure that we applied to Hayle today, to their credit they never gave up and this can only be good for them in the future, I am sure they will make things difficult for us in the return fixture. Finally I must mention Martyn Lawrance for his man of the match performance but more importantly a massive thank you to everyone who came along and supported our first charity event’.

The Hakes are back in action this coming Saturday with a 1st round Cornwall Cup Tie away to Newquay Hornets, kick off in Newquay is scheduled for 3:00pm any travelling support would be very welcome.

St Ives: Jess Tompsett, Ben Taylor (Captain), Ben Jenkins, Jamie Prisk, Tom Chandler, Neil Corin, Louis Stevens, Martyn Lawrance, Jason Jackson, Grant Thirlby, Pete Mabbott, Paul Thirlby, Tom Nicholas, Ryan Bishop, Lewis Thomas.

Replacements: Sam Carter, Guy Pallett, Tony Stevens. (All Used)