TABARD marked their fiftieth anniversary of their first ever game with a gritty performance against league leaders Penzance and Newlyn on Saturday before eventually going down 45-33.

However, it proved to be a difficult afternoon for Tabard, who scored three tries in the final five minutes to give the score a respectable air.

It had all started so brightly for Tabard, who went into the half-time break with a 16-11 advantage.

Tabard started the second half with 14 men after the referee had yellow carded the flanker following a general warning to both teams and with the game so evenly poised, this upset the balance and Penzance ran in two tries from the wing Evans and flanker Carrol.

Saumi also added a penalty and although Tabard were momentarily restored to 15, another yellow card swung the balance in favour of Penzance again who added scores from wing Hawken and Saumi.

To their credit, Tabard continued to battle and with five minutes remaining were rewarded when Richard Woodard broke through following a line-out with Skinner again converting.

Minutes later, Woodward made a half-break to feed the second row, Mike Finnie, who went over in the corner but it was a case of too little too late as the referee brought athrilling game to an end.

October 10, 2001 19:36