Illogan Park 15 Roseland 0
By Nick Sylvester
Roseland travelled to Illogan Park with optimism following last Saturday’s win whereas the home team were looking to avoid a run of three consecutive defeats.
Playing against a keen breeze in the first half, and after a slow start, Roseland began to gain some momentum by dominating the forward exchanges while giving Park a torrid time at scrum time whereby the home team were driven off their own scrum put-in on several occasions. However, the contest remained scoreless until a rare Park foray into the Roseland half resulted in a well struck 40 metre penalty goal to open the scoring after 28 minutes. Despite further Roseland pressure this proved to be only score of the half with Roseland somehow managing to reach half time with nothing to show for their dominance.
Buoyed by their 3-0 interval lead, Park were the sharper of the two sides after the restart and were rewarded with an unconverted opportunistic try after 45 minutes following a tap penalty with missed tackles in midfield. The next 20 minutes saw Roseland have further opportunities but a combination of dogged defence, poor handling and decision-making meant than nothing was forthcoming in terms of points on the board. Park, by now, were battling with increasing belief that a home win was a real possibility. Meanwhile the Roseland effort was becoming more disjointed with a losing bonus point looking to be the only hope. Resultantly, the last quarter of the game was a far more even contest, set scrum included.
A bad afternoon for Roseland was completed with Park scoring a second try in the corner with the last play of the game. To add to the disappointment, tempers immediately boiled over which led to an unsavoury mass brawl with both red and yellow cards being shown before the successful touchline conversion and final whistle.
For Roseland it was a afternoon of harsh lessons whereby poor finishing and lack of discipline proved to be costly in a game that really should have been a comfortable win. That said, Park deserve much credit for their tenacity and commitment in defending for long periods.
Fortunately, neither of our nearest rivals gained any league points so no ground was lost in that sense although a very winnable game has passed by. So time to move on rapidly with the focus moving on to the Lankelly/Fowey game, at Philleigh next Saturday, which has now become a “must win” encounter.