Roseland fall just short despite late rally……

Playing uphill in the first half, Roseland were immediately pinned deep In their 22 and it was no great surprise when the visitors took lead.  A simple move down the blindside following a tap penalty resulted in a relatively soft try which was superbly converted from the touchline, against the elements, to give a 0-7 scoreline after only 8 minutes.  However, Roseland responded well with the game developing into an even contest with the home team going through the phases while Bodmin shown smart awareness with their tactical kicking. The visitors extended their lead, following another tap penalty from near half way, with their left wing scoring his second try.  Another crisply struck conversion from wide out added the extras to make it 0-14 on 26 minutes.  Thereafter, Bodmin edged it for the remainder of the half but no further scoring meant that Roseland were still well in the game at the turnaround.

As the second half began, it felt as if the next score would be vital to the outcome. On 48 minutes this fell to the visitors when, following a penalty for a high tackle, a clean Bodmin lineout win and subsequent forward drives led to their third try, once again converted with ease. So at 0-21 it was looking like a long road back for Roseland. However, the home team immediately gained territory from the restart and a clean steal from a Bodmin defensive lineout, just 5 metres from their own line, saw the Roseland forwards impressively drive over with skipper Ant Thomas claiming the touchdown.  Clearly buoyed by this, the middle portion of the second period saw both sides have their moments but no further scoreboard additions meant that Roseland were still three scores adrift at 5-21.  On 73 minutes a clean take at a Roseland attacking 5 metre lineout brought about a replica of the previous score with Toby Nisbett being at the bottom of the pile on this occasion which, together with Tom Day’s conversion, closed the gap to 12-21.  Both tries were a forward coach’s delight as if taken directly from Exeter Chiefs training ground!

Although still lots to do to snatch a win, the added Roseland desire to earn a losing bonus point at least, was evident for all to see.   Eventually, as the game moved into injury time, the Bodmin defenders got themselves pinned behind their own in goal line in attempting to clear their lines.  Directly from the resulting attacking 5 metre scrum, Roseland pressure edged the scrum forward until the visitors buckled and conceded a penalty try with the last play of the game. All in all, the Philleigh faithful went home happy with Roseland having to be very satisfied with a losing bonus point having been 0-21 down to one of the more fancied sides.

 In league terms, although still not 100% guaranteed safety, Lankelly-Fowey’s excellent bonus point win over Helston means that Roseland should be playing Cornwall Division 1 rugby next season barring something extraordinary within the final round of match in two weeks’ time.

For the diary, our final league game is away against Camborne School of Mines at Penryn on Saturday 2nd March @ 2.30before which we have a friendly fixture away at St Agnes next weekend.

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