Cornwall take centre stage at Twickenham
A COUNTY Cup final is supposed to be a mighty tussle and this year’s effort, after a long Covid break did not disappoint.
Like a good stage drama there was a lightning start, a long period in the middle where the story developed and a finish you could not have predicted.
Cornwall captain Kyle Marriott said: “It was a dream start. When you start like that, you always know they will recover. We needed to dig deep which we showed at periods in the second half. For us, it was about staying in the fight. It was a great experience to play here again today.”
Penalties played far more of a part in the narrative than one would have wished but discipline is such a crucial part of the modern game and while the referee’s whistle did not determine the result both sides would have benefitted from greater care and attention to precision.
Cornwall, with so much Twickenham experience to draw on, began at a cracking pace. Most folks had barely taken their seats when Will Trewin flew into the right corner and fly-half Fraser Honey converted.
Still in the opening five minutes, crisp inter-passing and fine support allowed scrum-half Jack Oulton in at the sticks.
Cheshire adapted to the pace of the game and the remainder of the quarter was spent in the Cornish 22. For the next half hour the penalty count became a feature for both sides. Try as they might the men from the North couldn’t take advantage and the West Country defence remained outstanding.
Cornwall returned to the attack and after two penalties Honey kicked for the left corner. Oulton notched his second when he took advantage of a neat catch and drive for Honey to convert.
Cornish tight play had been the stronger thus far and this gave the black and golds more of a presence at the breakdown and in the scrum but three minutes before the break Trewin went to the bench for bringing down a maul.
The second period started much slower than the first but things were now moving in favour of Cheshire. After another series of penalties, No.8 Josiah Dickenson crossed the line for James Robins to improve six minutes in. Dickenson repeated the deal just four minutes later with a magnificent solo effort. Robins obliged with the conversion.
Honey stopped the rot with a penalty but Jack Simmons was carded for a tackle offence. Two minutes later Cheshire’s Tom Walsh dived acrobatically into the right corner and the margin dropped to just five points. But even a man down Cornwall asked questions and Honey was successful with another penalty.
Tensions rose again when Dickenson achieved his hat-trick with eight minutes remaining but Cornish fears were allayed when their fly-half slotted his third penalty before replacement Mike Austin sent Cornish hearts soaring when he outran the defence from 50 metres to ensure the Bill Beaumont Cup went West again.