Bude 22pts

Falmouth 8pts

Falmouth travelled to Bude as underdogs for this Powergen Vase match. Their opponents are currently riding high in the Cornwall and Devon League, but Falmouth put in an excellent performance to restrict the home side to a 22-8 victory.

The early exchanges were very evenly contested with the Falmouth defence holding firm against their opponents' attacks. Bude had the advantage of a strong wind and used it well to take the game upfield but were unable to register the first score until after 20 minutes when hooker Steve Turner ran in a try for Colin Williams to convert.

Play then continued as before with both sides probing for the gaps but it was right on the stroke of half-time that Bude managed another try from winger Nathan Carter who took advantage of Falmouth's lapse of concentration and poor tackling to touch down in the corner and make the score 12-0.

Falmouth were now playing with the elements and started to put consistent pressure on the Bude line. Their persistence was eventually rewarded when Bude infringed and Adrian Downing kicked a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 12-3.

This was now a crucial stage of the match as the next score could prove decisive for either team and some of the play started to become confrontational. Bude kept their cool during this period and Falmouth began to lose their discipline and shape.

Despite changes to the team Bude took the initiative and sent in Nathan Carter for his second try and opened the gap to 14 points. They were still not out of reach but when Flanker "Minnie" Fry crossed the line after a rolling maul the game was secure for the home team.

Falmouth never gave up and were successful in scoring a pushover try by David Roberts in the final moments.

This was a much improved performance by Falmouth and no-one did better than Chris Vincent at full-back who fielded and kicked the ball well in very difficult conditions.

On Saturday Falmouth are at home to Mount's Bay in a vital top-of-the-table league match, kicking off at 2.30pm and sponsored by Pendennis Shipyard Ltd.

Team selection was due to be made after training last night when players were informed of the squad's line-up.