IVYBRIDGE coach Lewis Paterson was happy with his side’s first run-out of pre-season.
The Devon Cup holders produced a strong second half display to overcome Western Counties West outfit Kingsbridge 38-0 at home on Saturday.
However, the South West Premier club were made to work a lot harder for the victory by their lower league neighbours than the scoreline suggests.
The match was level at 0-0 at half-time, with Kingsbridge having the better of the opening 40 minutes against at relatively inexperienced Ivybridge XV.
The Bridgers, though, brought on a host of more experienced players for the second half and scored six tries as their opponents tired.
“Fair play to Kingsbridge,” said Ivybridge player-coach Paterson. “In the first half it was 0-0 and we did have some strong players out. Yeah, we also had some young players out, but it was not what we felt was a weak side, so hat’s off and full credit to Kingsbridge. I thought they were brilliant.
“We did rush a lot in the first half as a side – I think we tried too much – and we were quite error-ridden, but once we settled and our experienced lads came in we took control.
“It wasn’t physical dominance – we didn’t out-muscle them or anything like that – it was just we got into some rhythm.
“But it was a cracking first game. A lot of boys got some game-time and a lot of boys stood out.
“We have worked really hard in pre-season and done a lot of fitness, but it is about getting that match fitness.
Ivybridge have seven first and second team pre-season fixtures. After playing Plymstock away on Wednesday, they will then take a first and second team to Taunton, before playing games against Devonport Services, Bideford and Liskeard-Looe.
“We like to play a lot of rugby in pre-season,” said Paterson. “We think game-time is important and more beneficial. A lot of Premiership teams have academies to run against within their own camp, but we don’t have that luxury but we do have lots of local teams we can play.”
