Hakes Sting Hornets Again

Newquay Hornets 5 : 45 St Ives Hakes

Last Saturday the St Ives 1st XV travelled to Newquay for the second time this season, on this occasion it was for a Cornwall & Devon league encounter.

For this game Head Coach Paul Thirlby brought in experienced scrum half John Trewhella to cover for the absent Sam Carter. The pack was unchanged from the Tavistock game, but returning from injury was Pete Mabbott.

Dominant pack

The game began in blustery conditions with the ground heavy under foot from the persistent rain during the previous night. From the first scrum it became clear that the Hakes had a big advantage and from the first set piece the referee had no option but to award St Ives a penalty as Newquay struggled to cope with the power of the Hakes scrummage. From the penalty the ball was despatched to the touchline and the lineout that followed saw prop Jess Tompsett carry the ball over the try line at the rear of the St Ives pack for the first points of the match and Jess' first try since the first game of the season. The conversion was missed but the Hakes were 5 points up.

The match began to settle into a rhythm that the St Ives players seemed able to control and with the advantage they held in the scrum it was not long before they scored their next points. Again it was the scrum that cost Newquay in their own 5 metre zone. After several dominant St Ives scrums the referee had no choice other than to run between the posts and award the penalty try. This time Grant Thirlby converted to put the Hakes ahead by 12 points to nil with 15 minutes gone.

The home side had the wind at their backs in the first half but did not use this to their advantage as often as they might have done. In the 26th minute they did kick the ball into space. It was recovered by a retreating St Ives player who attempted a kicked clearance, but the ball was sliced into the arms of an advancing Newquay player who pressed home his attack and passed the ball wide allowing the home side to score their first points of the afternoon to bring them back within one score of St Ives at 5 points to 12.

The remainder of the first period saw the Hakes continue to press home their advantage up front. Only two minutes after the Newquay try, the St Ives players found themselves with another attacking scrum in the Newquay 22. This time it was No8 Martyn Lawrance who grasped the opportunity and crossed the line for St Ives 3rd try. Martyn has featured as starter in all eoght Hakes games this season and is the top try scorer with nine to date. The conversion was successful to put the Hakes 19 points to 5 ahead at half time.

The second half continued to see the Hakes dominate and whenever they had an opportunity to demonstrate their advantage over Newquay in the scrum they looked likely to score. The first score of the second half was similar to the first in the match. Prop Jess Tompsett fell on to the ball once the St Ives pack had pushed their opponents backwards over their own line in another dominant St Ives scrum. The conversion was missed this time, but the result was never in doubt after this point with the Hakes now enjoying a 24 points to 5 lead only 5 minutes after the restart.

The next St Ives try was a fine individual score from Captain Ben Taylor who picked up the ball on the edge of the Newquay 22. With plenty still to do he rampaged towards the try line brushing aside defenders to score a fine try. Thirlby kicked the conversion to increase the Hakes lead to 31 points to 5.

With the St Ives players now in full control of the match they showed a level of control that was not apparent the last time they played at Newquay and went on to score two more tries. The first was a second score for No8 Martyn Lawrance and the second from recent signing Cameron Bone who skipped around the outside of the Newquay defence to score. Both tries were converted by Thirlby to see the score at the final whistle Newquay 5, St Ives 45.

Following the match St Ives Director of rugby Joff Rowe commented;

‘In very difficult conditions our half backs John Trewhella and Paul Thirlby managed the pack very well. Also the pack maintained possession with fantastic discipline and scored some great tries to help the club maintain momentum and keep the pressure on the other top teams in the league.’

‘The squad should take some good positive thoughts from this display and hopefully it will help build our success in the coming weeks against some very significant opposition’.

'We are looking forward to playing at home next week and we would like to see as many supporters as possible in what is a top of the table clash’.

Fantastic Job

‘My special thanks goes to John Trewhella who filled in at the last minute and did a fantastic job at scrum half. Congratulations and well done John’.

The Hakes are back in action this coming Saturday with a home game in the league against Plymouth Argaum with kick off scheduled for 2:30pm.

St Ives : Jess Tompsett, Ben Taylor (Captain), Ben Jenkins, Louis Stevens, Jamie Prisk, Sam Heath, Cameron Bone, Martyn Lawrance, John Trewhella, Paul Thirlby, Peter Mabbott, Grant Thirlby, Tom Nicholas, Ryan Bishop, Aaron Rowe.

Replacements : Tony Stevens, Sean Stevens, David Bramwell (All Used).