Pirates Make Light of Storm Boelo

By Phil Westren

Okehampton 5 Penzance & Newlyn 13

On an afternoon when ‘Storm Boelo’ quickly arrived on Saturday in the wake of a very wet and windy ‘Storm Austen’, this was a game still admirably played at Okehampton’s the ‘Showground’ field.

Both sides deserved credit on the day in what were less than ideal conditions, but for the Pirates it was a truly stoic performance that sees them still unbeaten, five from five, at the top of the Regional 2 Tribute South West league table.

Playing with the wind in the first forty, the Pirates led 13-0 at the break thanks to two tries scored by prop Joe Best and a penalty slotted by fly-half Rhys Brownfield. The ‘Okes’ scored an unconverted try in the second half, but on a day when low scoring was all but inevitable, that was it.

Speaking after the game, Penzance & Newlyn’s head coach Murray Westren commented:

“It was quite some day for playing rugby – stating the obvious conditions were about as horrendous as you can get but what a win from this group.

“I could tell early in the week that we were ready for it, and what evolved was a performance full of character, effort, and grit.

“As expected, it was a very physical game, and especially so in the second half against the wind, but we managed to hold on to our lead.

“Unfortunately, the day did take its toll injury-wise, but it will be a full squad effort to finish this first block of games off at the Mennaye against second-placed Tiverton next Saturday. We would also absolutely love a big crowd to be present to help cheer the boys on!”

Penzance & Newlyn: 15 Dan-Rhys Evans 14 Calum Walsh 13 Harris Eddy 12 Josh Semmens 11 Callum Gardner 10 Rhys Brownfield 9 Sam Carter; 1 Kye Beasley 2 Connor Bick 3 Joe Best 4 Ben Martin 5 Stan Somers (captain) 6 Eli Williams 7 Sam Carroll 8 John Stevens.

Replacements: 16 James Lambourn 17 Wes Eddy 18 Nick Nowell.

(The Penzance & Newlyn 2nd team also emerged victorious once more, winning a close contest 28-26 away to Redruth Albany on Saturday)