Purple patch either side of half-time gives Launceston first win under Perry

LAUNCESTON bounced back from their opening day defeat to Trowbridge by seeing off much-fancied Brixham in front of a passionate crowd in excess of 400.

The hosts saw three changes to their starting XV as locks Devon Bennett-Murray and Dan Goldsmith came in, as did winger Dan Pearce as Cian Baker, Andy Rowe and Billy Martin made way.

However, it was the Fishermen that scored first on 12 minutes as following a penalty and the subsequent line-out, winger Connor Doneathy ended up going over in right-hand corner. The conversion was pulled wide.

The hosts were back in it three minutes later as after Brixham knocked on, the Blacks dominated the scrum, forcing the visitors back at a rate of knots. The ball was then spun wide to full-back Ollie Bebbington who made valuable metres and offloaded to winger Sheldon Higgins who scored by the posts. James Tucker added the extras for a 7-5 lead.

Soon after, Brixham gave away a penalty on their 22-yard line for holding onto the ball and the Tucker stepped forward to send the kick sailing between the posts.

The second try arrived on 38 minutes as an unstoppable maul in the visiting 22 ended with hooker Archie Doidge dotting the ball down to score. Tucker extended the lead to 17-5.

There was still time for a third try before the break as the Blacks capitalised on their powerful scrums, No.8 George Harris going over after a few phases. Tucker kicked the extra two points.

With the drizzle easing off and the sun shining, Brixham captain Jordan Watson broke through the home defence to score early after the restart, which was followed by full-back Joel Ashworth slotting the conversion to reduce the arrears to 12.

But Launceston got the next try as prop Charlie Short used his strength to power over the whitewash. Tucker made it 31-12.

They all but wrapped up the contest with a moment of magic from Bebbington. With the hosts having an advantage following a high tackle on scrum-half George Hillson, Bebbington broke through the defensive line and ran half the length of the pitch to score. Tucker, who had a 100% kicking success rate, added the extra points as the visitors were temporarily reduced to 14.

Brixham continued to fight, and helped by the home side’s discipline gradually getting worse, rallied to secure two bonus-points.

Winger Kai Kidd scored in the corner before home centre Jack Easton was yellow-carded, as was Short soon after for a high tackle.

Down to 13, the home side were up against it and conceded once more as outside-centre Will Kingsley filtered through a gap in the defence to score a converted try.

The visitors grabbed a bonus-point score through Doneathy with Ashworth drop-kicking the conversion, but they were unable to rally in the final minute for a remarkable late draw.

Launceston will look to build on their win when they visit Cornish rivals St Austell on Saturday (3pm).

LAUNCESTON: Ollie Bebbington; Sheldon Higgins, Eion Baker, Jack Easton, Dan Pearce; James Tucker, George Hillson; Mitchell Hawken (capt), Archie Doige, Charlie Short; Devon Bennett-Murray, Dan Goldsmith; Charlie Tummon, Lloyd Duke, George Harris. Replacements: Alex Bartlett, Rory Mead, Cian Baker, Jed Griffin, Billy Martin.

Tries: Higgins, Doige, Harris, Short, Bebbington; Convs: Tucker (5); Pens: N/A.

Cornish All Blacks’ man-of-the-match: Devon Bennett-Murray.