Dewsbury Rams victorious in first ever trip to Cornwall

Jimmy Beckett had given the visitors - who set off on their 369 mile journey early on Saturday morning - a first half lead but Cornwall, who were only founded in 2021, hit back at the start of the second half through Coby Nichol.

However, a double from Caelum Jordan and tries from Brad Graham and Lewis Carr ensured another victory for Liam Finn’s table-toppers.

Dewsbury’s head coach admitted before the game that it was “a case of going down there and getting the job done.”

And he made a few tweaks to the side which beat London Skolars 52-6 in their previous outing at the end of May. Paul Sykes was unavailable through suspension, while Matt Garside, Ollie Greensmith and Connor Davies were all rested and did not travel.

But the Rams didn’t have it all their own way in the first half with an early Cam Brown high bomb dropped and Josh Hartshorne being held up on the line. Brown then produced a 40-20 as Cornwall looked to apply the pressure.

However, Dewsbury took the lead after Beckett’s superb solo-run down the middle before Callum Turner added the extras.

Although the Penryn sunshine wasn’t as warm as it was in West Yorkshire, the temperature was certainly rising on the pitch with the Rams’ Davey Dixon and Cornwall’s Brown being sent to the sin-bin after an altercation, before the home side were reduced to 11 when Morgan Punchard, on loan from Hunslet, made contact to the head.

Dewsbury could not, however, take advantage of having a man extra in the latter stages of the first half and went into the break 6-0 up.

Eight minutes after the restart, and back to a full complement of players, Cornwall levelled the game when Nichol grasped onto a loose pass, with Brown converting.

However, that was as good as it got for the home side in their search for only their second win of the season, as the Rams, unbeaten in League 1, scored two tries in four minutes to give them some breathing space.

Jordan got his first of the afternoon after Bailey O’Connor produced a great break before Graham somehow managed to grind himself over the line, with Turner’s conversion making it 20-6.

The lead was extended with eight minutes remaining when Carr finished off a flowing move before Jordan got his second after the Rams caused chaos down the right hand side.

After the game, Finn said: “Glad to get the win. Performance-wise, well off. Well off our levels and our standards and plenty to think about going into the next couple of weeks.”