Cornwall revel in Origin match win

Cornwall Rugby League secretary Rob Butland has hailed the County of Origin clash with Devon as “a great advert for rugby league”.

A late try from Cornwall full-back Matt Shepherd clinched a 36-26 victory for his side in Redruth.

“It was a fantastic game of rugby. We couldn’t be prouder,” Butland told BBC Radio Cornwall.

“It was a great night. It could have gone either way but we managed to pull away at the end.”

Butland added: “Every player played outstandingly, there wasn’t a bad performance on the pitch.

“There were huge tackles and some hard running and it was just a great advert for rugby league.”

Shepherd scored the first and last tries of the match and kicked six conversions for a personal tally of 20 points.

“It was a great performance from him but we had 13 guys on the pitch, a squad of 20 and every one of them put a real shift in,” added Butland.

Cornwall:


Matt Shepherd, Alex Ducker, Aaron Hunt, Guy Pallett, Ashley Taylor, Paul Saberton, Andy Webster, Ethan Pattison, Jono Jones, James Ford, Ashley Lawton, Martyn Lawrance, Kye Beasley (Capt) Subs: Matt Williams, Martin Middlewood, Steve Homer, Scott Marshall, Grant Thirlby, Jake Butcher, Darren Pellow.

Tries:


Shepherd 2, Williams, Marshall, Ducker, Pattison

Cons:


Shepherd 6

Devon:


Ozzy Flowers, Ed Powell, Joe Briggs, Nathan Barnes, Manoa Cakacaka, Billy Stockwell, Alex Ford, Dec Sexton, Alex Stevens (Capt), Russell Morris, Stuart Lovick, Nick Wolley, Dave Walter Subs: Scott Galloway, Nigel East, Shaun East, Jack Carlisle, Ben Tharme, Ben Cowley, Rob Ede.

Tries:


Morris, Wolley, Briggs, Flowers, Ford

Cons:


Stevens 3

Referee:


Chris Symons

Cornwall revel in Origin match win