A match which was boiling up nicely and turning in Blackheath's favour was abandoned on 57 minutes due to floodlight failure. The lights on the offending pylon had actually expired after only 30 minutes, and play had continued in the semi-darkness, but by around 4.10pm the light had deteriorated to a point where the officials, led by referee Andrew Vertigan in consultation with the teams, determined that it was time to call a halt. For a result to stand 60 minutes must be played and therefore the timing of this abandonment means the match will have to be replayed.
For the Cornish All Blacks (who drew Wharfedale away this week in the Cup!) that will mean another long journey, a fact that joint head-coach Chris Brown was fairly philosophical about afterwards, but it will be Blackheath who will be the more disappointed. The Club were gradually turning the screw against one of the strongest teams in the league and but for a couple of errors in the first period would have held a far more commanding lead. The first of those errors came on 21 minutes as Gareth Jones was penalised for not rolling away at the re-start after Matt Leek had put Blackheath ahead, allowing Blacks' wing Gary Kingdom to equalise. Then, on the half-hour, and perhaps distracted by the lights flicking off during the move, some poor defending allowed Blacks' outside-centre Ryan Westren to slice through for a try next to the uprights in what was Launceston's only serious incursion into the Blackheath twenty-two during the opening period.
The visitors' defence had held up well against numerous attacks during the opening half-hour but in the final ten minutes the pressure began to tell. Great support play from Dave Allen enabled Sean Moan, a late call-up for Charlie Gower, to bundle over in the 34th minute, to level the scores at ten apiece, and then the hosts took the lead with Leek's second penalty. But perhaps the most significant score came on the stroke of half-time as the Club pack marched their opposite numbers back five metres before being penalised for slipping their binding and Leek, who enjoyed a perfect kicking afternoon, gave the hosts a 16-10 interval lead.
Henry Barratt had hobbled off during the first half to be replaced by Paul Humphries, making his First Team debut, and now the youngster slotted a neat grubber to touch, which allied to some strong running from Mark Odejobi, allowed Blackheath to keep the hammer down. Another scrum infringement on 50 minutes led to Leek's fourth penalty but a few minutes later proceedings came to an end.
Could the game have been allowed to continue and scramble over the magic 60 minute mark? Perhaps, if the play at the time not been under the defective pylon in the south-east corner, and had the heavy drizzle not started up which reduced visibility further. But it would have left a bitter taste and as unsatisfactory as it may seem the correct decision was made and we'll all have to re-assemble and try again on another day.
Scorers:
Blackheath Tries: Moan
Conv: Leek
Pens: Leek 3
Launceston Tries: Westren
Conv: Kingdom
Pens: Kingdom