MATCH REPORT: CORNWALL RLFC 6 - 18 MIDLANDS HURRICANES

Midlands win war of attrition in the Duchy

For their penultimate game of the season the Canes made the long trip down to the Duchy to take on a stubborn and enthusiastic Cornwall side. The Canes fortunes against the Choughs have been mixed this season, with a record-breaking 72-6 win in Penryn somewhat negated by a 24-22 defeat at The Alexander Stadium just a month later. Both sides came into the game in good form, with Cornwall following a 44-34 victory over Newcastle with close-fought losses to Rochdale (46-32) and Hunslet (26-33), whereas the Canes had bounced back from successive defeats to Keighley and Oldham with a professional performance to beat playoff rivals Workington Town (34-22).

The first quarter of the game started fairly even, with both teams having chances in attack but their respective defences holding firm. The Canes appeared to have slightly more opportunities on the Cornwall line, however a combination of coughing up possession and some stubborn defending saw frustrations grow for the visitors. The Canes then tried some creative plays out wide, however a long looping pass from Matty Chrimes following a scrum had too much behind it and sailed into touch to give Cornwall a strong attacking opportunity on the half-way line.

It was from this set that the Choughs - very much against the run of play - opened the scoring as a series of passes from right to left saw prolific half-back Cameron Brown dart through a gap in the Canes line to put the ball down to the left of the sticks (4-0) before converting his own effort from the kicking tee (6-0). The Canes had a couple of opportunities following this to even the scores, with a strong defensive effort following the restart leading to a Cornwall player being bundled into touch 30 metres from their line. Despite this, the Canes could not capitalise as the ball was spilled early in the set. In the very next set the Canes earned a penalty for a high-shot but were unable to capitalise once again as a short bullet pass from Medforth was knocked-on 10 metres from the Choughs line.

Despite those setbacks, the Canes looked to have scored with just over five minutes to play as Callum McLelland collided with a Cornish player before offloading the ball to Tom Wilkinson who dotted the ball down. However, before the travelling fans could celebrate the referee rightly pulled the play back as McLelland’s head clashed with the Choughs defender. McLelland subsequently went off for a Head Injury Assessment which he ultimately failed, meaning Danny Barcoe would come back on to join Medforth in the halves and Chris Cullimore would find himself at hooker for the rest of the game.

In the dying embers of the first half the Canes had a couple more opportunities to even the scores, however a knock-on and some defiant defending saw the Canes go into the sheds scoreless after the first half.

Half-time: Cornwall RLFC 6-0 Midlands Hurricanes

The Canes started the second half strongly as our first set resulted in a high kick not being dealt with by the Cornish winger and the visitors earning a scrum on the Choughs’ 10 metre line, however Jose Kenga was unable to keep hold of the ball following a driving run that took us within a metre of the line.

It only took the visitors a few minutes to even the scores as a short set of passes from left to right saw Lewis Peachey run through a gap in the Cornwall line to score to the right of the sticks (6-4), with Sullivan Medforth scoring his first professional points as he added the extras from the kicking tee (6-6). The Canes almost went back to back straight away but Danny Barcoe’s scoot on the last saw him tied up by the Cornish defence just short of the line.

Just under 10 minutes later, the Canes efforts in attack finally paid off as we took the lead. An attack down the right edge saw Tom Wilkinson collect the ball before being dragged over the Choughs’ try-line and into touch by a number of defenders. Despite the referee appearing to motion for a 20 metre restart, following a conversation with his touch judge he awarded a try, deeming Wilkinson to have got the ball down before being taken out of play (6-10). Sullivan Medforth kicked a good attempt from out wide but the effort was just wide of the mark.

Once again the Canes almost went back to back as Brad Clavering sold an impressive dummy before offloading to Lewis Peachey who was just a metre away from crashing over for his second of the afternoon. Chris Cullimore attempted to use this momentum to set up an attack from dummy-half, but a stray Cornish hand saw the referee call for a knock-on. Despite that setback, it was the Canes who would keep up their momentum as a short pass rightwards by Medforth saw the Canes burst through a gap before passing inwards to Todd Horner who strolled under the sticks to put us two scores ahead (6-14). Medforth continued his contribution by adding two more points from in front of the posts (6-16).

With just over 10 minutes to go, a powerful drive by Aaron Willis took us to within 10 metres of the Cornwall line before Coby Nichol conceded a penalty by ripping the ball in a two-man tackle. Knowing time was against the visitors and two more points would require Cornwall to score three tries to win, Medforth opted to take the two and kicked the penalty to wind down the clock (6-18). With just under five minutes to go a final attempt to add points saw Medforth go for a drop-goal from over 30 metres out, however the effort sailed just wide. Cornwall attempted to score what would ultimately be a consolation score, however Matty Chrimes opted to bat the ball out for a goal-line drop out shortly before the final hooter sounded.

As the hooter went the Canes jubilantly embraced each other as they knew they had been in a real battle with a stubborn and persistent Cornwall side. With Hunslet coming from behind to beat North Wales Crusaders 28-20 and Workington Town not playing, the Canes go into their final game of the season in fifth place, two points ahead of Workington (who host Newcastle Thunder before travelling to League One Champions Oldham) and four points ahead of North Wales (who travel to Rochdale before hosting Cornwall). Should North Wales Crusaders not win against Rochdale Hornets next weekend, the Canes will be guaranteed a play-off spot for the first time in the club’s history.

Man of the Match:
Chris Cullimore (Sponsored by Autex Acoustics)

Scoring sequence:
4-0, 6-0, 6-4, 6-6, 6-10, 6-14, 6-16 and 6-18