CAMBORNE stretched their unbeaten home National Two West run to 23 matches on Saturday afternoon with an eight-try victory over a spirited Exeter University at the Rec.

With nearest challengers Luctonians failing to collect a try bonus at home, the Cherry & Whites increased their advantage at the summit to 13 points with six games remaining.

On a heavy pitch, the Students were unable to capitalise on the advantage of the slope in the opening half turning around 19-12 in arrears as conditions underfoot deteriorated.

After falling behind to an early converted try, ‘Town’ responded on 17 minutes when centre Josh Matavesi barged over near the posts for Rory O’Kane to add the first of six conversions.

Early in the second quarter, Camborne hit the front when George Wacokecoke dived in for fly-half O’Kane to again slot the extras.

As the interval neared, Ben Priddey crossed from an unstoppable ‘catch and drive’, but on the whistle the Uni hit back with a fine long-range solo try from former Newquay Hornets wing Joshua Golden Clarke.

The Cherry and Whites swiftly bagged the try bonus point at the start of the second half via right wing Robin Wedlake who sped clear from halfway then chipped and gathered before diving over.

‘Town’ were soon out of sight at 31-12 with hooker Priddey collecting a 34th try of the season from a ‘catch and drive’ in front of the West Bank, which was improved by O’Kane.

The students dug in well for 20 minutes, but eventually further points arrived with Josh Matavesi’s delightful pass sending co-centre Wacokecoke racing over for his brace, which O’Kane converted.

On 69 minutes, man-of-the-match O’Kane’s ‘show and go’ allowed him to ghost over from 25 metres with the youngster duly adding the extras.

‘Town’ added further gloss when livewire scrum-half CJ Boyce took play close from a quick tap penalty, and lock Jamie Prisk followed up to dive in for his first Cherry & Whites try. O’Kane made no mistake for a 17-point day.

Reflecting on the victory, head coach Tom Kessell said: “I’m really happy in the end with the result and the five points, and if you look at the scoreline it looks like a good result, but we had to work very hard for what we got. Hats off to Exeter Uni, they came down, worked hard and looked to throw it about.

“Maybe we were a little hard on ourselves in the first half, not realising how strong that wind was, but people came off the bench and made a real impact which is what you want.”

With a healthy lead over second, Kessell takes his side to Weston-super-Mare-based Hornets on Saturday.

“We know it’s going to be a challenge, but these are the games why you do it, so we’ll go up there and try and come away with a win”, he continued.

“Hornets are a really good side at home where they score a lot of tries, so it’s up to us to defend well but also make sure we impose ourselves on them.

CAMBORNE: Moyle; Wedlake, Wacokecoke, J Matavesi, Larkins; O’Kane, Boyce; Andrew, Priddey, Watson; Prisk, Hughes; S Matavesi (capt), Nicholls, Buzza. Replacements: Beasley, Rolls, Utton-Smith, Edson, Davis.

Tries: J Matavesi, Wacokecoke (2), Priddey (2), Wedlake, O’Kane, Prisk; Convs: O’Kane (6); Pens: N/A.

Cherry and Whites’ man-of-the-match: Rory O’Kane.