Tribute South West One West

Camborne 33 North Petherton 0

NORTH Petherton, for the second week running, played a team high on confidence and riding high at the top-of-the-table, writes Simon Freeman.

Pethy battled but lacked the composure to take opportunities that were on offer, while Camborne demonstrated why they are clear at the top with a comprehensive performance in attack and defence.

The home side kicked off playing towards the scoreboard end, with the elements at their back and wasted no time in taking the lead through a well-worked touchdown.

With conditions underfoot extremely difficult the visiting pack couldn't hold a powerful Camborne catch and drive from a lineout, where the back-row forward grabbed the opening score.

A combination of resolute Pethy defending and a number of handling errors from Camborne prevented the home side increasing their lead until the 23rd minute.

A scrum inside the visitors 22 was driven over the line where it was once again Goldsworthy who claimed the try.

To the visitors credit they continued to work hard to deny Camborne and held out until the 39th minute, when a lineout drive in front of the West Bank proved unstoppable and Camborne led 19-0 at the break.

The second half began with Camborne forced onto the back foot, as Pethy took advantage of the conditions.

They hammered at the Cherry and Whites’ line for 10 minutes until frustration led to a yellow card for the visiting centre, for preventing a quick penalty.

This gave Camborne some breathing space and they worked their way up field in what was rapidly becoming a war of attrition with the heavy pitch taking its toll.

On 60 minutes the ball was moved wide by Camborne, where the centre sliced through a tiring Pethy defence to score under the posts and seal a bonus point victory for the league leaders.

Camborne's fifth and final score came when captain Dave Roberts crowned an excellent performance as he broke away from the base of a scrum.

Pethy captain, Damian Griffin said: “Travelling to Cornwall with a scratch side was always going to be tough.

“The expectations were very low but the team that travelled down had no pressure on them and all I wanted from the lads was to enjoy it and give it 100% - and that's exactly what we did.

“Although the final score suggests that we got a hiding, we didn't give any of those points away easily.

“I have never been so proud to play with a side that put in so much effort and heart, when everything was against us.”

Pethy host Bideford on Saturday.