Cornwall 'getting closer' their first win after narrow London Skolars loss - Neil Kelly

Joe Purcell's try early in the second half briefly put Cornwall in front

Cornwall boss Neil Kelly says his side are improving after narrowly missing the chance for their first ever win.

The Choughs went down 24-20 at home to fellow League One strugglers London Skolars despite holding a two-point lead early in the second half.

The newly formed side stay bottom of the third tier after their eighth successive defeat.

"It's very frustrating, we've come so close but we've not finished the job off," Kelly told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"Anybody watching it could see that with a little bit more confidence, which you get after you've won a game or two, a little bit more quality I can see where we could have won today.

"We're getting closer, but we're not quite there yet."

Aaron Jones-Bishop's try just eight minutes into his debut put Cornwall ahead, but tries from Lameck Juma and Judd Greenhalgh saw Skolars lead 12-6 at half-time.

Joe Purcell's try 11 minutes after the break saw the scores levelled before Adam Rusling's penalty put the hosts two points in front.

But tries from Michael Greenhalgh and Jarred Bassett in a two-minute spell in the final 10 minutes secured victory for the visitors, before Purcell got a second try late on for the hosts.

"We've managed to fetch a few players in and I've managed to have a settled core of the team, but we've just got to keep expanding on it and not throw the baby out with the bath water just because it's another loss, recognise the bits that we're doing really well and obviously we eradicate the things that we need to eradicate," Kelly added.

"I'm sure if we get to that point we'll find wins not easy, because no win in rugby league is easy, but we'll find wins within our capabilities.

"I don't think the decision to win or lose was within the Skolars changing room, I think it's within ourselves and that's obviously what I've said to my players, it's a choice for us to make that's going to decide whether we win or lose."