LAUNCESTON joint head coach Ian Goldsmith admitted it was a ‘really tricky afternoon’ as the All Blacks fell to a 32-5 defeat to Matson on Saturday in Regional One South West.

The Cornishmen, who saw lock Dan Goldsmith make his 100th appearance for the club, dominated large spells of the first half in Gloucester, but trailed 10-0 at the break, and within 13 minutes of the restart it was all but game over at 29-0.

Lloyd Duke pulled one back just after the hour, but Matson, who included a number of forwards that had played at a far higher level, held out comfortably.

Reflecting on the afternoon, Goldsmith said: “There was always a possibility that it could go that way, particularly after the deflation of the Barnstaple game.

“That allied to the fact that they had some of their quality players returning made it a really tricky afternoon.

“We didn’t help ourselves with our penalty count, especially at the start to allow them to go 7-0 up.

“We did then get a foothold and started to play a bit like we can in terms of gaining territory and possession, but we couldn’t capitalise on their ill-discipline.

“We were still on zero at half-time and probably spent at least a third of the half in their 22.

“It was just another big reminder when you’re away from home that when you do get into the opposition 22, you’ve got to come away with points.”

Fourth-placed Launceston were 17-0 down when lock Leion Cole was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle, and although Goldsmith disagreed with the decision, he admitted they didn’t respond well enough, adding: “The yellow card, which we felt was very harsh, really gave them a helping hand, but the really frustrating thing was we conceded another two tries in quick succession which was an achilles heel of ours last season.

“It’s something that’s irritating to put it politely, but all we can do is work really hard at training and learn from these experiences.”

He did manage to find some positives, adding: “Both second rows – Daniel on his 100th game and Leion – showed up really well, Tucks (James Tucker) did everything asked of him at ten and Jose (Luis Juarez) looked a real threat breaking off the line.

“Charlie (Short) could only play the last 20 minutes or so due to his shoulder, but he made a big impact when he came on.”

Launceston make a first-ever trip to Marlborough on Saturday (2.30pm), a club making waves with their heavy contingent of players with connections to the likes of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Goldsmith said: ““They’ve got an awful lot of South Sea Islanders which means they’ll be properly physical, look to carry the ball and make some big hits.

“It’ll be a lot of ‘off the cuff stuff’ which is difficult to play against and they have a huge front row, probably the biggest in the league.

“We need to be careful about the amount of scrums and when we do get the ball keep possession and capitalise on their ill-discipline.

“If we can do that then we’ll frustrate them and hopefully it’ll lead to points.

“The last two games are the first time this season we’ve lost back-to-back matches, but hopefully this time we can come out on the right side of the result.”