Hakes Take Impressive Win on The Road

Hornets 12 v 38 St Ives

Last Saturday St Ives made the long trip to Weston Super Mare side Hornets in their latest South West One West League fixture. Several changes were made for this game including Connor Bick coming in for the absent Rob Elloway. Leigh Hocking started at prop with new signing Sam Vernon on the bench. Joli Volaisaya started at 8 with Martyn Lawrance unavailable and Joe Parma moved up to inside centre with Jack Kessell starting on the wing.

The game was played on Hornets all weather surface that proved its worth in the torrential rain that came and went throughout the match. St Ives were to produce their best away performance for several seasons. It wasn’t long before the Hakes were in front when full back Dan Magee slotted a penalty chance in the 3rd minute to give the Hakes a 3 point lead.

St Ives continued to press forward and the Hornets looked vulnerable to the big St Ives ball carriers that consistently made good inroads into the home defence. It wasn’t long before the Hakes grabbed their first try of the afternoon when Pete Mabbott crossed after 6 minutes. The conversion was missed in the tricky windy conditions, but St Ives were now 8 points to nil up.

St Ives kept up the pressure on the home side who were struggling to break out of their own half of the pitch. The sustained pressure was too much for the Hornets defence and St Ives added two more tries before the break. The first of these was from second row Jamie Prisk on the half hour mark. This was followed by a second try from Pete Mabbott after 34 minutes. Both tries went unconverted to put St Ives ahead by 18 points to nil.

As the first half was drawing to a close the Hornets managed to get some possession of the ball and put some pressure on the St Ives defence. In the 39th minute they worked the ball wide into the arms of Charlie Carter who scored in the corner to get the Hornets on the scoreboard on the stroke of half time to set the score at the break Hornets 5 St Ives 18.

At the start of the second half the first score came after St Ives spilled the ball allowing the Hornets to kick through and Ozzy James won the foot race to touch down and score the try. Jordan Humphris added the conversion to put the Hornets back in the match at 12 points to 18 with 42 minutes played.

Despite the home side moving to within a score of St Ives it was the Hakes who took a hold of the game. The home side struggled to cope with the superior physicality of the Hakes. After 50 minutes Joe Parma enjoying his move up to inside centre scored the next St Ives try with Magee converting to make the score 12-25.

Magee then added a penalty following a high tackle to make the score 12-28 after 54 minutes. With St Ives continuing to dominate thanks to their greater physicality it wasn’t long before another opportunity for further points came their way. This time it was replacement scrum half Sam Carter who marked his return from injury with a characteristic try sniped from the base of a ruck to increase the St Ives lead to 33 points to 12 with 56 minutes gone.

In the remaining 20 minutes of the match the Hornets tried their best to get back into a match that was beyond their reach. The biggest difference on the day was the discipline in defence shown by the St Ives players which frustrated the home side for long periods.

In the last play St Ives right wing Pete Mabbott scored a try to complete his hat trick and confirm St Ives as winners of the match by 38 points to 12.

This bonus point victory sees the Hakes consolidate third position in the league table behind Okehampton and leaders Launceston as we hit the halfway point in the season.

St Ives are back in action this coming Saturday with a home fixture against Devonport Services. This is a sponsors’ day with a pre match buffet and after match hog roast, with entertainment and carols. Kick off at Alexandra Road is scheduled for 2:30pm. Any home support for the Hakes final game at home before Christmas would be greatly appreciated.

St Ives:

Ben Taylor

Connor Bick

Leigh Hocking

Jamie Prisk

Ben Watson

Chris Quick

Aden Brassington

Joli Volaisaya

Liam Jolly

Rhys Brownfield

Peter Mabbott

Joe Parma

Tom Nicholas (Capt.)

Jack Kessell

Dan Magee

Replacements:

Sam Vernon (used)

Sam Carter (used)

Chris Fuca (not used)