Cornwall and Devon League

Newquay Hornets 25pts

Saltash nil

Saltash failed to get on the scoreboard, leaving Newquay to pull away from the immediate drop zone and themselves adrift at the bottom by six points in this bruising relegation battle at the Sports Centre

To make matters worse, Saltash are likely to be left without a recognised outside half for the remainder of the season after Kevin Noyce, already standing in for glandular fever victim Nigel Owen, left with a broken collarbone on the stroke of half time.

Newquay had first use of the full gale blowing down the pitch and soon chalked up a 15-point lead thanks to two tries in the space of five minutes from Rory Julian, and a conversion and penalty from Andrew Dickson.

Saltash spent some time camped on the home line but finally came away without a score before Robin Elford broke from halfway for a try on the left.

Saltash had their fair share of possession in the second half but even with the gale at their backs failed to turn it into points. It was all over bar the shouting when Hornets winger Ashley Mann nipped in for a try at the death.

Cornwall 2

Stithians 72

Lankelly-Fowey 0

ALTHOUGH defeating bottom club Lankelly by a massive 72 points margin and clocking up their third win in the league, Stithians remain only a place above them but have a game in hand over School of Mines.

Bude 46

Liskeard/Looe 0

Two easy tries in the first ten minutes put Liskeard/Looe 14 points in arrears.

In wet and windy conditions the Liskeard/Looe pack led by the back row secured first, second and third phase ball to allow captain and scrum half Andy Harris to combine well with guest fly-half for the day Ross Gaylord.

Against the run of play two more tries for Bude ended the first half.

The second half saw a 15 minute period during which the home side stepped up three gears and Liskeard had no answer.

More outstanding runs from Paddy and backed up by veteran full back Pete Chew, who had a great game, saw Liskeard /Looe back into the contest.

Unlucky not to score on several occasions the first team cannot continue to give this much commitment and effort and come away with nothing.

The next match is at home to St Agnes in a 'relegation battle' in two weeks time.

Wadebridge U12 14 Liskeard U12 19

AFTER a seven-week break Liskeard finally got on the pitch for only the second time this year.

The wait was worth it however as the nine dedicated players of Liskeard – plus one borrowed – comfortably beat the 11 of Wadebridge.

The Liskeard forwards of Spiering, Brandon Brooks, Paul Allen and Ollie Faulkner struggled manfully against the much heavier Wadebridge pack on a slightly marshy pitch.

Despite being shoved backwards they still gave scrum half Alex Newman much better ball than his counterpart.

Daniel Watt's tackling was a joy to behold and obviously rubbed off on Adam Whittington, James and Simon Keeley for they too tackled with gusto.

Under such intense pressure the Wadebridge backs were often caught in possession and driven back.

In one drive, Wadebridge were forced back over their own try line. Dan Watt, ever alert, looked up to see what devastation he had caused and simply picked up the loose ball and ploughed over to equalise an earlier Wadebridge score. Adam Whittington converted.

This entertaining game saw end to end action and the outnumbered Liskeard defence was magnificent but from a penalty it was eventually breached through sheer weight of numbers.

With a light wind in their favour Liskeard kicked off to resume the second half and immediately James Keeley stormed away, only for a last ditch tackling to stop him short. He crossed the line but was penalised for a double movement but it really deserved a try.

An injury to their large influential prop saw Wadebridge heads drop especially when they realised this evened out the numbers.

Liskeard simply got stronger and from a penalty close in Adam Whittington danced over. The conversion attempt was pathetic and we will not mention the kicker.

Special mention must however be made of fullback Daniel Yeatman who displayed extraordinarily poor technique when making a try saving tackle. He was injured but a lavish application of icy water from medic Mike Strand quickly revived him.

It was all Liskeard now and with parity in the scrum, Alex Newman was able to unleash his backs to great effect. Possibly a first this season saw the ball released willingly by Whittington to Keeley who zoomed over to cap a splendid performance which included only a few oblique runs. Whittington converted and Liskeard won.

Liskeard return to Wadebridge on Sunday for the County Festival and if parents can make the effort Liskeard stand a fair chance of becoming county champions.

Meet at 9am in Rugby Club car park with warm clothing and hip flasks.