Lancashire 24 Cornwall 39: Red Rose’s wait for a Bill Beaumont County Championship title continues
Lancashire suffered defeat against Cornwall in their Bill Beaumont County Championship final at Twickenham.
An entertaining and toughly-contested Bill Beaumont County Championship final ended with defeat for Lancashire at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
The power of Cornwall’s pack was a major influence but Lancashire battled bravely throughout and were level at 24-24 early in the second half before their opponents scored two more tries and a penalty.
Lancashire had the worst possible start when, in the second minute, a heavy collision saw centre Jordan Dorrington carried off.
Red Roses’ skipper Chris Johnson kicked a fine long-range penalty from just inside the Cornish half to open the scoring.
Cornwall were soon pressing inside the Lancashire 10-metre area and, eventually, Sean Buzza drove over and Kyle Moyle added the conversion.
Lancashire responded by pressing inside the Cornwall half and, in the 12th minute, a neat backs move aided by Leo Gilliland’s clever overhead pass ended with hooker Jack Ellam forcing his way over to score.
Johnson converted and his side were 10-7 up as the Lancashire backline started to run through their slick moves, orchestrated by Johnson and featuring Tom Forster, Sam Freeman, Owain Williams and Gilliland.
However, their lead was quickly wiped out as the Cornish backs started to create space with clever running, cutting through the opposition defence.
Winger Alex Ducker made a decisive break and scored an excellent try in the 14th minute, duly converted by Moyle.
It was Moyle’s turn to claim the glory a few minutes later as he darted over for a try, which he also converted, before extending their lead with a 34th-minute penalty.
Lancashire hit back with an extraordinary try just before the half-time break.
Thirty metres from the opposition line, Ashton Kasam-Sharples competed in a ruck and then surprised Cornwall by bursting through a couple of much bigger defenders and diving over.
Johnson’s conversion made the score 24-17 at the break and Lancashire were right back in the contest.
They levelled at the start of the second half, when Kasam-Sharples broke again with support from Tom Ailes.
Cornwall prevented fair release but Freeman sneaked in to score in the corner, with the Cornish also seeing Josh Matavesi sinbinned after being deemed to have been the earlier culprit.
Moyle’s 51st-minute penalty restored Cornwall’s lead and the Lancastrians appeared to have lost their chance of a 26th trophy.
This was underlined by a powerful break through a number of tackles by the returning Matavesi to score the decisive try, with Moyle’s conversion putting his side well clear at 24-34.
The Red Rose continued to battle but Max Boddily applied the coup de grace with Cornwall’s fifth try to complete the scoring.
Lancashire co-ordinator Mark Nelson said: “It was a hard-fought final and at 24-24, we were truly in the mix to get a win.
“However, it wasn’t to be and Cornwall went on to get the result.
“The performance of the players was full of heart, commitment and we pressured a very good Cornish side by producing some excellent rugby.”
Lancashire: Freeman, Williams, Dorrington, Forster, Gilliland, Johnson, Sturgess; Bowker, Ellam, Kyle-Clay, B Walton, Garrod, Deans, Kasam-Sharples, Ailes. Replacements: Deeks, Birchall, Rudkin, M Walton, Castle, Clayton, Bradley, Browne.
Cornwall: Moyle, Shepherd, Bodilly, J Matavesi, Ducker, Wills, Boyce; Andrew, Cowan Dickie, Gendall, Osborne, Pascoe, Buzza, S Matavesi, Stupple. Replacements: Prowse, Sheppard, Rodman, Hancock, Nicholls, Henessey, Larkins, Priddey.