Penryn 3,

Travelling to Pen­ryn with one of the smallest band of supporters for many years, Kings­bridge still managed to put on one of their best away performances for a long time.

With the return of the 'Twickenham four', the Blue and Whites put on a performance that shows how this group of players is turning into a proper team. Ably led by captain Ben Glover, they are starting to develop an ability to absorb pressure and then, with runners like full-back Banfield, rapidly counter-attack to good effect.

Both teams started slowly with Penryn controlling the territorial advantage. Penryn took advantage of some sloppy play by Kings­ to convert a penalty for the first points of the game.

However, a charge down from the kick-off led to Ben Glover scoring and Ashley Treeby converting for a 3-7 lead.

Following the kick-off, Kingsbridge backs worked a well executed three-quarter movement which resulted in George Banfield beating four defenders to score in the corner.

Penryn fought back and camped in Kings­bridge's 22, but the Blues worked their way back down field and after sustained pressure from the forwards, Matt Barlow found a gap and put Glover over in the corner for the third try. This was converted by Treeby, taking the score to 3-19.

The last 10 minutes of the half saw a quieter period of play and Penryn happy to hear the whistle go.

After a slow start to the second half, with Kingsbridge making most of the early play, strong defensive work by the Blues backs preventing Penryn from scoring their first try.

Penryn continued to press, and despite Kings losing two players to the sin-bin in rapid succession, were unable to press home their advantage.

In the closing minutes, with all players back on the pitch, Kingsbridge camped on the Penryn line and Jack Cope broke from a set scrum to score the fourth try for the bonus point, Treeby converting to send the Blues home 3-29 winners.

This Saturday sees Kingsbridge 1st XV return to league action at High House and the visit of fifth-placed Tiverton.

Kingsbridge A XV 43,

Honiton seconds 10

Kingsbridge put their previous loss behind them with a big win over Honiton. The weather was making it hard all day and the strong winds and driving rain meant a lot of spilt balls.

Both teams seemed evenly matched for the first 20 till eventually a good line picked from lock Robert Scott saw him burst through a couple of defenders to offload for full-back Simon Scott to score near the posts, fly-half Stephen Hamilton converting.

Honiton came back hard and pinned them in their own half for a while, but the Kings­bridge defence kept them at bay and a strong counter-attack saw Kings march up the pitch.

They kept hold of the ball until centre Dun­can Lilburn took a crash ball off a penalty and cleverly offloaded to fellow centre Dave Stephens, who crossed the line using his pace and power to score near the posts, Hamil­ton again converting.

The next score came quickly from the restart, when number eight Matt Hurst took the ball from the kick-off and had a fine solo run, taking the side deep into the opponents' half.

Lock Rob Scott picked another fine line to break through and score under the posts, Hamilton adding his third conversion.

Kings closed the scoring out for the first half after more pressure from the home team saw hooker Neil Elliott get the touchdown in the corner, the conversion being missed.

The second half was a harder fight for the home team and Honi­ton certainly didn't give up, with aggressive tackling and still good counter-attacking plays forcing the home team to keep the pressure up. Eventually winger Dave Thuel got an iunconverted try after finishing off a good backs move.

The next score came from home winger Dan Hardy, who was playing his last game for the club before going to Australia, with the conversion kicked by Robert Scott.

The last two scores came from a Kings player who stepped in to help Honiton out. It was Matt Hurst who stepped into the centre role and found himself somehow crossing the line twice for the away team.

Kingsbridge A XV entertain Newton Ab­bot on the Longfield Pitch this Saturday at 2pm and Kingsbridge Colts play host to local rivals Ivybridge at High House on Sunday in the third round of the National Colts Cup.