Hakes Take Victory in the Mud

Plymouth Argaum 5 v 15 St Ives

Last Saturday Head Coach, Paul Thirlby, took his first team squad to Plymouth Argaum for their first game since January 23rd following the recent poor weather conditions.

The game was played on a very sticky pitch which was not helpful to either side and did not make the most entertaining game of rugby to watch from the sideline.

The game began with both sides probing each other’s defences, the Hakes looking the more likely to score. However, Argaum played with grit and determination and prevented the St Ives attack from crossing their try line on several occasions. The home side had two opportunities to score from penalties in the 15th and 22nd minutes respectively, but on both occasions the kick fell short of the posts.

It wasn’t until the 37th minute of the half that the deadlock was broken when following an attacking scrum on the Argaum 5 metre line the St Ives scrum half, Sam Carter, sniped through a gap in the home defence to score his fourth try of the season. The conversion was added by Grant Thirlby to make the score at the break Argaum 0, St Ives 7.

The second half began with the Hakes now playing down the slope and looking to take good advantage of this. However, things didn’t go quite according to plan, in the 52nd minute flanker Cameron Bone was shown yellow reducing the Hakes to 14 men. This gave the home side motivation and they stuck at their task well, repeatedly frustrating the St Ives players by snuffing out their attacks.

In the 60th minute the Hakes were awarded a penalty in sight of the posts, which was successfully kicked by Grant Thirlby to put St Ives ahead by 10 points to nil. This brings Grant's total points this season to 160, averaging well over nine per match.

Pallett brings colour from the bench

The game continued to be a scrappy affair. The St Ives players were attempting to play an expansive game, but the home side coped with this all afternoon much to the Hakes’ frustration. In the 75th minute, following a sustained period of pressure on the Argaum line, replacement flanker Guy Pallett charged down an attempted clearance and gathered the ball to score. This was Guy's first appearance for the club since last September when he featured in the Hayle and Honiton matches. The conversion was missed this time, but the Hakes now had a lead of 15 points to nil.

The last period of the game saw some very determined play from the home side. However, as the St. Ives players tried to defend they were continually penalised by the referee in the last few minutes and Argaum took good advantage of this. In the 78th minute they fashioned an attack which saw the ball move wide to their right and their winger finished it off with a try in the corner, the conversion was missed to make the score Argaum 5, St Ives 15.

The last couple of minutes were played out with no addition to the score to see the Hakes take the victory.

The Hakes are back in action this coming Saturday in a re-arranged fixture away to Paignton. The Hakes will be looking for another victory on the road to keep up the pressure on league leaders Bude. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30pm in Devon, any travelling support would be very welcome.

St Ives: Jess Tompsett, Ben Taylor (Captain), Ben Jenkins, Jamie Prisk, Todd Prisk, Sam Heath, Cameron Bone, Martyn Lawrance, Sam Carter, Paul Thirlby, Tom Murray, Grant Thirlby, Tom Nicholas, Bobby Conroy-Smith, Lewis Thomas.

Replacements: Louis Stevens, Guy Pallett, Stuart Milliner