Ton undone by Penryn's visit to Allhallows

Saturday saw the visit of Penryn who'd made the long trip up from deepest darkest Cornwall. Conditions were perfect for rugby given the respite in all the rain. For Honiton unfortunately... once again they had to make several changes to the starting line-up given the injury list and unavailability's so it was always going to be a difficult task. Despite the odds there was a healthy crowd of loyal supporters which was bolsters by a pre match sponsor lunch hosted by club sponsors PR Driver Blacksmiths and their Beer supporters.

Honiton kicked off and were asked to play down the slope and it was the away side who started brightly and went through the phases moving the ball up field with good ball retention. Honiton's defence stood firm but it was clear they would have to work hard to get the ball back as the game progressed.
On a bright note right from the off the home scrum was strong in contrast to last week and they actually pushed Penryn off the ball on several occasions and in the first 15 minutes of play there was no score and things looked hopeful despite the visitor having much of the territory advantage and posession.
Ollie Cave had a shot at goal but this went wide and from an attack up the right hand side of the field a missed tackle saw the visitors open their account with an unconverted try.

Honiton continued to soak up some intense Penryn pressure and Brooks often made some long kicks to relieve the pressure. The relief was often short lived as the away side moved the ball back in to the Honiton twenty two where it seemed that, most of the play was occurring. The solid home scrum was the saving factor though as the visitors couldn't get much clean ball from the set phases but despite that the Cornishmen were very good at keeping the ball alive in contact and this saw them rewarded with another try which this time was under the posts and they duly converted for a 0-12 lead after 36 minutes and to be fair the away side were deserving of their lead.
Just shy of the end of the first half Honiton had their first visit in the Penryn twenty two after a good combination break by Ollie Cave and then Johnny House but this saw Honiton just stopped short and few plays later the whistle for half time went.

The second half started badly for Honiton with the ball spilled at the kick off, the mistake was punished with the ball moved out wide and from the resulting scrum Penryn got their third try of the game. The conversion was missed but it was now 0-17 and not the start to the second half the home team needed.
From the kick off Penryn cleared downfield Kyle Blackmore gathered the ball only to be tackled in the air. The ball was kicked up field, Penryn knocked on at the line out and from the scrum Johnny House hit a good line to score under the posts. Cave added the extras to lift the spirits of the home support.
The joy was short lived though as Penryn got the try bonus point by scoring under the posts through their young second rower from short range and again this was after they'd utilised the offload tactics well and the Ton were now 7-24 down.

Honiton kicked off again and forced a knock on from the scrum Honiton they then went through multiple phases for the first time in the game in good field position. They couldn’t turn the pressure in to points and Penryn cleared downfield. They held the Honiton ball up in the maul, won the scrum and a break down the blindside saw their 14 score a well worked try out wide to put the game beyond Honiton at 7-29 after 65 minutes.
Penryn continued to be very clinical when in possession and their ability to keep the ball alive was impressive. They scored another try wide left and extended their lead further to 7-34 after 72 minutes.
Penryn were reduced to fourteen men for the closing stages when their flanker deliberately knocked the ball out of the scrum half’s hand at the base of the ruck.
Honiton moved the ball up field and got a consolation try through Matt Bailey just right of the posts, Ollie Cave converted for a final score line of 14-34.

For Honiton it was a frustrating day as in parts they looked good and competed well but they were on the day, dispatched by some clinical finishing and the odd missed tackle also didn't help Honiton's cause.
On a positive note the Scrum looked good and the front row union of Goulden, Baily and Logan will have had some consolation with their coal face efforts and they will have been very pleased with their 4 against the head strike rate which were often in crucial defensive positions.
Young Callum Budge was given praise for his work in the row and he's one for the future for sure. Ton's man of the match award went to Will Goulden who continues to lead from the front in difficult times!
Honiton now have to dig deep and every game from now on will be nothing but a dog fight. If it's any help it has to be said, there were some positive aspects from the days performance and with hard work and a little luck for a change, things can only get better.