HIGH-flying Devonport Services continued their impressive home form with a 48-7 win over Okehampton at the Rectory on Saturday.
Okehampton had won on their last four league trips to Devonport, but straight from kick-off it was clear that was not going happen again.
Services were sensational in the first half, running in six unanswered tries to lead 34-0 at the interval.
Although they could not keep that pace and execution going in the second half as Okehampton tightened up and torrential rain arrived, they were still able to add a couple more tries to claim their second biggest win of the season.
Services have won all their home games so far this season and are averaging more than 40 points a match at the Rectory, but the second half of the campaign will be tougher with seven of their 11 remaining games on the road and title-rivals Barnstaple and Chew Valley still to visit the Rectory.
With Barnstaple losing to Brixham at the weekend, Services are in a great position after playing half of their games. They are just two points behind leaders Chew and one point behind Barnstaple, who have played a game more.
Head coach Ben Russell was delighted with his team’s display on Saturday.
“I think the performance was one of the best we have had this year,” said Russell, who was particularly delighted with the opening 40 minutes.
“All the boys played to how we wanted them to play. We moved the ball and moved them around and when we had to carry we carried hard. It was a proper team performance.
“We said we would put points on someone when we played well and got it right and we were nearly there in this game.
“We have proved when we move the ball around and play to the space that teams can’t live with us and we can score some sensational tries.
“Even though it was a bit wet but we still played some good rugby.”
On the second half display, he added: “Okehampton were always going to respond and they tried to play a bit more and move the ball around.
“I think for us there were just those times when we could have been more clinical but tried to force that extra pass, but our defence was outstanding. Yeah, they got a try at the end with a pick-and-go, but our defence was outstanding throughout and I think our penalty count was less than six.”
The game was less than six minutes old when Services got their first try with hooker Aiden Taylor going over from a catch-and-drive move.
Okehampton did respond with a good spell but Devonport defended well and stopped them on the line and then the hosts dominated the rest of the half.
Okehampton did not know how to stop Services, whose forwards were dominant and whose backs were electric, with Richard West, making his first appearance of the season, getting the ball out to the speedy back three of Harrison Coonick, Toby Knowles and Matt Neyle at every opportunity.
Services’ second try was great and highlight their strengths as the forwards stole a Okehampton line-out deep in their own half and they quickly got the ball out wide where the dangerous Coonick made a break before off-loading inside to centre Tom Davies, who ran 40 metres to score under the posts.
A third try followed four minutes later when lock Mike Rickard scored from close range after a drive had been stopped just short.
Okehampton then had Dan Fogerty yellow carded on 26 minutes and Services took full advantage with winger Knowles running in to score in the right corner and West brilliantly converting to make it 24-0.
Prop Oli Symons was held up over the line in the 35th minute but it was not long before another score came, with Coonick, who was such a threat for Services all afternoon, scoring a fine try down the left after the hosts had stretched Okehampton by constantly switching the play.
And, just before the break, scrum-half Dan Goldstone added a sixth try after the impressive Rickard had broke and off-loaded to him.
Services got an early second half try through Knowles after good play by James Hocking and Rickard, but then they lost their way a bit. Their line-out, that had worked so well in the first half, started letting them down a bit and their attack was not quite as structured as the first half, but that was down to Okehampton not giving them as much time and space and not just kicking the ball straight back to them.
Midway through the second half black clouds descended over the ground and the heavens opened. The floodlights had to come on as it was almost impossible to see, but Services did get an eighth try when Liam Jarvis scored after Shaun Crawford had been stopped just short.
But that was it for Services and Okehampton did get a consolation try late on through prop Dan Butt.
For the second week running, Ivybridge dug deep to snatch a narrow home win to keep alive their hopes of staying in the division.
After beating bottom side Weston-supre-Mare 29-27 the week before, the Bridgers edged out Lydney 23-20 on Saturday, despite having Marcus Prout sent off and having the game disrupted due to a lightning storm.
The teams had to go off for 30 minutes in the second half for safety reasons due to the weather, but Ivybridge were able to hang on for another vital four points which has lifted them out of the bottom two.
“Just backing up last week, it came down to game-management again and trusting in what we are doing,” said Ivybridge head coach Davy McGregor.
“If it has taken to the halfway point of the season – and there has been a lot of new changes – we can just be happy that it is now potentially changing.
“The big thing for us is just taking each game as it comes.
“We’ve achieved these two goals and now we have another for next week.”
He added: “All the good teams win the tight games. I’m not a believer in just hammering teams to be a better team, sometimes you can grind out wins – Saracens are a good example at the top level.
“I don’t think we’ve been lucky these last two weeks. We’ve played as well as we can do and we’ll take any win as it comes.”
For the second week running, the boot of Matt Grieveson was crucial. He converted both Ivybridge’s tries and added three penalties.
He did miss a penalty right at the beginning of the game but he did not let that affect him.
The hosts also had Ben Watts yellow carded early on but they took the lead with a try by Harry Cane, which Grieveson converted before he added a penalty to put his side 10-0 up.
Lydney cut the gap in half with a try before the sides exchanged penalties to make it 13-8 at which point Ivybridge had Prout red carded.
After the interval, Lydney went 15-13 ahead, but a Grieveson penalty and then a converted try by Owen Garner put Ivybridge 23-15 up with just over 10 minutes to go.
But once again there was a nervous ending for those at Cross-in-Hand with Lydney scoring a try with six minutes to go and Ivybridge having Matt Skeemer yellow carded.
However, somehow they managed to hang on for the a vital victory.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
GEORGE Hillson scored an impressive 31 points, including a tough late match-winning penalty, as Tavistock beat title-chasing Kingsbridge 41-39 in a thriller at High House.
It was the second time this season Tavistock had beaten Kingsbridge, having triumphed 38-26 at Sandy Park in September.
Hillson was in inspired form, scoring three tries and kicking five conversions and two penalties as Tavistock came back from a 20-7 half-time deficit.
The visitors also had Ethan Lamerton and Jamie Legg scoring tries in a thrilling second half.
After Tavistock had come back from 27-14 down to take a 35-27 lead, Kingsbridge scored two tries to go back in front, but each time they did their lead was cancelled out by a Hillson penalty.
The win was particularly special for the Baker family as father and son, Adrian and Calum, played in the same team for the first time.
“It’s not very often you have a father and son playing in the same team,” said Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy, who was missing a host of players for the trip to High House.
“It was a good afternoon and it was a good game – it ebbed and flowed.
“Every single player knuckled down and I think we just managed to second half better.
“Everyone played well – it was just a good performance from everyone.
“People will say George scored 30 points, but he can’t score them without other people working hard and doing their jobs.”
Leaders Plymstock Albion Oaks travelled to west Cornwall with a much-changed team and were beaten 19-12 away at St Ives.
“They deserved to win it,” admitted Oaks’ Mark Lenthall. “They were just that little bit more clinical, they defended well and turned the ball over well. We just didn’t quite play in the right areas, which was probably the key to it.
“We also had so many missing – we had about half the team missing from last week – and had no 10, 12 or wings and a prop missing.
“If you want to do well in this league you have to travel away with good squad. We had a decent side on paper but we had people playing out of positions and not having a 10 hurt us.
“We had a really young side out and they battled hard, but we just played in the wrong areas of the pitch.”
On a muddy pitch and in windy conditions, St Ives took a 14-5 lead at the break and were able to keep hold of their advantage second half.
Will Perkin (2) and Adam Harris scored tries for St Ives, with Grant Thirbly kicking two conversions.
Oaks’ points came from tries by Robbie Hall and Miti Caqara, with Duncan Bibby adding a conversion.
COUNTIES TWO
A TRY by Dylan Daley right at the death secured Devonport Services II a narrow 24-20 away victory at struggling North Tawton in Counties Two Devon.
North Tawton, who had surprised Barnstaple II in their last game, looked like they might become only the third team to beat Services II this season as they were leading 20-17 with time nearly up.
Services II had the chance of a kickable penalty to earn a draw, but captain Tom West turned it down to go for the try and the gamble eventually paid off with Daley, making his return from injury, going over for a winning try.
It was Daley’s second try of the game, with Mark Friend also crossing and Kieran Down converting all three tries and also adding a penalty.
The win has moved Services II to the top of the table as previous leaders Torquay Athletic’s game at Exeter Saracens was postponed.
Ivybridge II’s hopes of staying in the league are virtually over after they handed Barnstaple II a walkover which means they are now 19 points away from safety.
Plymouth Argaum’s home game with South Molton and OPMs’ home match with Withycombe were both postponed due to waterlogged pitches.
In Counties Two Cornwall, Saltash were handed a home walkover by Bodmin, while their title rivals Redruth II did miss out on a bonus point in a 17-13 win at Perranporth.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
SECOND-placed Tamar Saracens were made to work hard for a 34-12 win away at ever-improving Plympton Victoria.
Chad Smith scored a hat-trick of tries in muddy conditions for Saracens, who also had Jordan Maddocks, Joe McKinley and Reece Boase scoring.
Ronan Cons and Dan Warne scored tries for Plym Vic, with Chris Barrett adding a conversion.
“Plym Vic have quite improved and I think they will challenge a few teams,” said Tamar Saracens’ Pete Lethbridge.
“For us, it was a better performance from last week – it was a bit more flowing.”
The visitors had led 24-7 at the break, but Plym Vic cut that to 24-12 after the interval before Sarries finished strongly.
“We did step it up in the last 20 minutes,” said Lethbridge.
“We did have quite a lot of players missing, but it was good to get a few scores.”
Plym Vic had been struggling for numbers when they played Tamar Saracens at the start of the season and lost 72-0 under the game-on rules.
So they were delighted with their performance against one of the title-chasing teams on Saturday.
“It was one of those days where we were beaten but the lads were really chipper afterwards,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“We scored some tries and played a good game. We are probably just missing that little bit of polish around the park but the improvement is magic and it is brilliant to see.
“We had parity in the scrums and we did very well in the line-outs. I think it is just that little bit of decision-making and that little bit of polish, but it’s just part of our learning curve.
“It was a good game to watch. It’s weird as we have come off the park and I’m not livid because we have been beaten instead I was just thinking I’ve enjoyed that and it was a good game.
“We have a few people still out with injury but we managed to fill a full team and a full bench and we still people who we had to either leave out or who weren’t quite fit. It’s really good for the future.”
For the third week running Old Techs lost to a top four side by just one score as they were beaten 27-21 at home by a strong Paignton II side.
That defeat following a 10-5 loss to Tamar Saracens and a 17-15 reverse to Brixham II.
“We are happy with the way we are playing,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith.
“But we were just playing against a really strong Paignton side. However, it was a good game of rugby.”
Lewis Harvey scored two tries for Techs, with Will Booth, who had a big game at centre, also crossing. Ben Hockey converted all their tries.
Plymstock Albion Oaks II were beaten 46-12 at home by leaders Dartmouth.
Joe Spencer and Owen Paterson scored tries for Oaks II, with Spencer also adding a conversion.
Tavistock II’s game with Kingsbridge II was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, as was Saltash II’s Counties Three Cornwall game at Bude II.
Elsewhere, a Devonport Services vets team beat their Okehampton counterparts 17-12 at Stonehouse Creek.
Pictures are low resolution and are protected by copyright so should not be used without permission.