Hancox holds nerve to edge out Cleve

South West Premier

A GRANT Hancox penalty helped Bournemouth maintain their unbeaten run and increase their lead in the South West Premier after they snatched a 33-31 victory at Cleve.

Hancox got the runaway leaders off to a perfect start with a penalty before crossing the whitewash to give them a 10-0 lead.

Cleve responded with a try of their own before a penalty on the five-metre line resulted in Adam Higgins crossing the line to give them a 17-5 lead.

A penalty for each side followed before Joe Tarrant ran over for Bournemouth to give them a comfortable 27-12 lead.

However, Cleve came back and moved within a point from Bournemouth before snatching a 31-30 lead in the last few minutes, only for a Hancox kick to settle the match.

That win meant that Bournemouth went 15 points clear at the top with seven to play after second place Barnstaple lost 27-19 to Drybrook. Ivybridge gave their top-two chances a lift after beating fellow challengers Maidenhead 24-17 while Brixham ran out convincing 43-14 home winners over Weston-super-Mare. A brace of tries by Alex Ducker helped Cambourne to a 29-20 victory over Bracknell as they took their ninth victory . Further tries for the hosts came from Adam Long, Tarren Peacock and Declan Matthews.

In reply Gabe Hills scored a brace of tries for Bracknell and Cam McDonald the other as they fell just short of a bonus point. Basement side Old Patesians are staring relegation in the face after suffering a 46-10 defeat at the hands of Exeter University. Relegation rivals

Newton Abbot remain second from bottom following a 24-17 defeat by Exmouth.

After a frenzied start to the game Exmouth ran over a first try before stamping their authority on the game with a second score.

Abbot, who have only won three games this season, responded with a score of their own to bring it back to 10-7 at half-time.

An error in defence gave Newton Abbot hope of a vital victory as they took the lead after the break only for Exmouth to score twice more to give their side a bonus-point victory.