Penryn 20 Kingsbridge 12

Penryn’s first home match of 2024 was against promotion chasing Kingsbridge at a dry but cold Memorial Ground on Saturday, writes Jonathan Plummer.

Penryn started the match at a real pace and started confidently spreading the ball wide and really stretching the Kingsbridge defence.

After just four minutes of play a break up the middle by James Salisbury broke the defensive line and he offloaded to No.8 Andrew Seviour who had an unopposed run to the line to dot down beneath the posts. Salisbury converted and Penryn led 7 nil.

Kingsbridge hit back straight from the restart though and started to put pressure on the Penryn defence and after several minutes of pressure they got their first try by Winzer to level the scores.

This match was a breathless encounter and Penryn were soon on the attack again the only way Kingsbridge could keep Penryn out was by being offside and giving a penalty away. Skipper Adam Strick opted for the three points and Salisbury had no problem taking the chance and Penryn were back ahead.

The Borough were now firmly on the front foot but good defence kept them out until a kick into the corner by Seviour found space down the right wing and bounced up perfectly for Matt Hall to dive over in the corner. The difficult conversion slipped wide but Penryn had a real grip on the game.

The next 20 minutes was a frustrating one for Penryn as they camped themselves in the Kingsbridge half but did everything but score as several try scoring chances went away. They still had a convincing 15 -7 lead at the half time whistle though.

The second half started like the first ended with Penryn creating several chances but through a series of knock ons and the try scoring passes going awry failed to extend their lead.

Indeed it wasn’t until the 71st minute that Penryn sealed victory when eventually the final pass stuck and young full back Ben Rosevear finished off the overlap to score in Clubhouse corner.

Kingsbridge did manage a late consolation try through Combes but it was to little to late and Penryn had a convincing victory but will feel disappointed not to get the bonus point.

Our thanks go to referee Nick Croker who had an excellent match. This victory made it eight league wins out of eight at the Memorial Ground this season for Penryn.

There’s a week of the firsts next Saturday before travelling to Paignton on the January 27 for another tough match.

Penryn Colts are at home on Saturday playing Penzance with a 12 noon kickoff.