A BUMPER crowd is expected at the Rectory on Saturday as title-chasing Devonport Services host their nearest neighbours Ivybridge in Regional One South West (3pm).

Services sit seven points clear at the top of the table with just four games to go, whereas Ivybridge are still not safe from relegation, despite their eye-catching 46-19 victory over high-flying Chew Valley in their last outing.

It means there is plenty at stake on Saturday when the two clash in the eagerly-awaited derby.

“There should be a good crowd,” said Services head coach Ben Russell. “It’s also our ex-players day and our twos have Exmouth II at home.

“The great thing about this league is that there are a lot of local derbies, but Ivybridge v Devonport is the biggest one.

“Our boys are not just going to be up for it because it’s Ivybridge, but because we are also only 14 points off promotion.”

Russell insists there is no doubt that his team do want to win the league and would want promotion to the National Leagues, even though it would be a big jump for a club that does not pay their players.

“We do want to get promotion,” he said. “If you do win it you can’t go to the lads and say ‘we don’t want to go up’ as they would be saying ‘why have we put our bodies on the line then?’.

But Russell knows his team, who are unbeaten at home this season, cannot take Ivybridge lightly.

When they sides met at Cross-in-Hand earlier this season, Services just edged it 25-17.

“After their last result against Chew, I think they are pretty much safe now and so I think the pressure is off them now,” said Russell.

“As we have always said, any team on their day can beat anyone in this league.”

Services are set to be missing Matt Neyle, but they should have Richard West and Toby Knowles back in the mix for selection.

Ivybridge will go into the game boosted by that big win over high-flying Chew.

That moved them eight points clear of the relegation zone, but their head coach Davy McGregor does not want his players thinking they are safe yet.

“We have got a hard run-in,” said McGregor. “We played exceptionally well against Chew Valley but we know that will be hard to sustain.

“I think one more win would almost guarantee it (safety) or at least a point from every game, but you look at Matson and I think they won three or four on the spin when no-one would have expected that.”

McGregor certainly feels the pressure is on Services this weekend.

“I do have tremendous admiration for what Ben (Russell) has done at Devonport,” he said. “He has set his stall out and they have achieved it and it has obviously filtered through to their seconds as both their teams are currently successful.

“But I think genuinely the pressure is on them. We have nothing to lose.

“I do think our last result has turned a few heads. If we had beaten Chew Valley on penalties say 12-9 that might have been different, but when you put 40-odd points on a team then you have to respect that.

“I think that bit of respect Devonport might give us might mean they are looking over their shoulder.”

He added: “We would have won earlier this season but we had two yellow cards and they beat us by eight points. Their lad kicked everything that day, but we were all over them it was just those two yellow cards.”

McGregor is set to stick with basically the same squad that beat Chew Valley two weeks ago, although player-coach Charlie Briant should be back in the matchday 18.

“There’s a nice young culture coming through again and in the performance against Chew you could see that spirit and they fought really hard for each other,” said McGregor, who says those players have earned another chance.

“And what was nice is the group of players that left the pitch, the average age was 22, so that is something you can build on.”

COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST

LEADERS Plymstock Oaks’ title credentials will be put to the test this weekend when they make the trip across the Tamar to play sixth-placed Penryn away.

Penryn may be poor travellers, with just two wins to their name on the road, but their home form is the best in the league.

The Cornish club are still unbeaten at the Memorial Ground, with nine wins out of nine and the only teams they have not faced yet there are Oaks and Tavistock.

Oaks did beat them 45-7 at Horsham Fields in November, but they will know to expect a different type of a test this weekend.

Plymstock cannot afford another slip up with just four games to go as both Tiverton and Paignton are only four points behind them.

Head coach Lewis Paterson is set to miss Saturday’s trip but, apart from his absence, Plymstock are set to travel with a strong squad.

Oaks will be hoping that out-of-form Tavistock could maybe do them a favour and upset Tiverton away on Saturday.

Tavistock have lost their last five games to drop from third down to eighth and a trip to Tiverton, who like Penryn, are unbeaten at home this season, would probably not be their first-choice fixture to try and end their losing run.

“We know it is definitely not going to be a walk in the park. We know they are a decent side with a lot to play for,” said Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy.

“I think they are probably the best team we have played so far, along with Paignton and Plymstock.

“But we have nothing to lose.

“Randomly if other results we our way we could move up to fifth, which show how tight the league is.

“Our aim is just to finish as high as we can in the table.”

Tavistock are again missing several forwards, including Joe Burbage, Charlie Charlton and Jake Gaskin, but their backline is pretty similar to usual, although George Hillson is set to move to 10 and Charles Bowden is in line to start at scrum-half.

COUNTIES TWO

PLYMOUTH Argaum face a massive match in Counties Two Devon as they visit relegation rivals North Tawton on Saturday.

Argaum go into the match sitting 11 points ahead of their opponents and so know a victory would all-but guarantee their place in the division for another season.

However, a defeat at Taw Meadow would leave them looking over their shoulder in the final few weeks of the season, especially as North Tawton do have a game in hand on them.

“It is a crucial game,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.

“I said to the team, we want to stay in this league especially as we are only losing by fine margins, so we want to go up there and get a result.

“We have a bus going up there and we are taking it very seriously and we will be looking to get a win on the road – our first of the season.”

Avery is pretty confident is team will stay up this term. After this weekend, their remaining games are at home to OPMs and away at Ivybridge II and Barnstaple II, while North Tawton have Torquay at home and Barnstaple II, South Molton and Withcombe away.

Avery was hoping Argaum would have a few players back for this weekend’s trip after missing the likes of Dan Smith, Eddie McGinley, Billy Stockwell, Jake Turfrey, Owen Gocher, Al Percival, Dave Clack and Tom Shepherd last Saturday, but they are still missing most of them and some others.

Percival and Shepherd do return, but captain Tom Holliday and scrum-half Chris Perkins have failed to recover from injuries that forced them off the field last weekend against South Molton and Al Sullivan, Darren Ewers and Kieran Burring are also missing. Avery, who broke his hand against Services II in January, is named on the bench.

OPMs secured their league status last weekend when they beat Withycombe 40-0 at Cross-in-Hand.

They will be back at the same venue on Saturday when they visit bottom side Ivybridge II.

OPMs will be keen to make a point after narrowly losing 17-16 to the Bridgers’ second string at King George V Playing Fields in November.

“You never know what team Ivybridge will put out,” said OPMs’ injured captain Billy Garratt. “They have some strong players. Like anyone in this league you can’t count them out until you see what you are up against.

“We lost by a point to them at our place so we will be looking for redemption and to win this one.”

The Old Boys are on a roll and are unbeaten in their last four games.

“It’s what we need to be doing,” said Garratt. “We have targeted certain games and what we what to do in them and it has been going well. The intensity at training on a Tuesday and Thursday has been really good, despite the weather.”

Second-placed Devonport Services II will be looking for another win when they host Exmouth II at Stonehouse Creek (2pm).

The game should have been played at the Imperial Ground, but Exmouth have been forced to travel to Devonport after handing Services II a home walkover earlier in the season.

Services II go into the match on the back of a 95-7 cup win over Tavistock II last weekend and a 79-14 victory over Ivybridge II the previous week.

“What was good last week is that we had seven under-20s in the team and 15 of the 19 were under-23, so it is a young side,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.

In Counties Two Cornwall, it is derby day at Moorlands Lane where second-placed Saltash entertain nearest neighbours Liskeard-Looe.

Saltash, who are unbeaten at home in two seasons, will be looking to keep their good run going and keep the pressure on title rivals Redruth II, who they will host later this month.

The Ashes have had the better of all the recent meeting between them and Liskeard-Looe. The last time the Lions beat them in a league game was in 2011.

When the sides met earlier this season at Lux Park, Saltash won 48-0, and in last year’s meeting at Moorlands Lane the hosts triumphed 62-0.

Meanwhile, Saltash’s colts will play Newquay in the Cornwall colts’ cup final at Truro College on Saturday. The game should have been played at Moorlands Lane last weekend but had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

COUNTIES THREE

THERE’S a top-of-the-table clash in Counties Three Devon South & West as second-placed Tamar Saracens head to unbeaten leaders Dartmouth.

Sarries are 11 points behind Dartmouth with four games to play so need to win to at least put some pressure on their South Hams rivals in the closing weeks of the season.

“It is theirs to lose now,” admitted Tamar Saracens head coach Mike Lewis.

“We are the underdogs for essentially the first time this season. We have nothing to lose.

“We just have to go up there and play a bit of rugby and try and push them around a little bit.

“We are playing some great rugby and we are really trying to entertain and make it enjoyable.

“Our aim going up there is to embrace the challenge, but at the same time try and have a bit of fun and try and score some tries.

“We just have to focus on performing well and doing our bits and pieces.

“Hopefully, we can close the gap and at least put a bit of pressure on them in the final few games.”

Plympton Victoria will be aiming to pull clear of bottom side Totnes when they visit the south Devon side on Saturday.

Plym Vic currently sit six points ahead of Totnes with four games to play.

“It’s another week where we have good numbers,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.

“Once again, we have more people available than spots for a league game. You never want to disappointment people, but it is a good position to be in.

“We are looking forward to the game. The lads have arranged an overnight stay in Newton Abbot so it’s going to be like a mini tour, so we are just hoping the game goes ahead.

“You always want to win every game, but we are just looking to put in another good performance.

“Totnes have been up and down this season, but they did beat Old Techs, so they must have some fire-power.”

Seventh-placed Old Techs are at home on Saturday when they host the inconsistent Torquay Athletic, who sit one place below them.

Torquay did beat Old Techs 38-20 at their place in November when they were having a good run of form.

“We lost to them on a day they had a lot of experienced ex-first team players playing for them,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith. “But we played quite well and it was a good game of rugby.”

Bedford-Smith says the team are still frustrated about losing 27-26 away at Salcombe in their last game.

“I think the lads are still a bit disappointed by losing by one point,” he said. “They felt they were the better team but probably did not get the rub of the green on the day.

“They scored from our mistakes and hopefully the players will have learned from that.”

However, the two bonus points Techs picked up in that match means they have earned a Devon cup semi-final to go with their Ellis Trophy semi-final.

But they have lost some key players for the rest of the season due to serious injuries.

Captain Rudi Baker is facing another lengthy spell on the sidelines after needing an operation on a dislocated and broken knee cap. It was the same injury he did to his other knee a couple of years ago.

Neil Harmse has also broken his ankle and James Douglas is out with broken ribs. Josh O’Hare is also injured, but the club still hopeful he might feature again before the end of the season, while Sion Noville is also on the sidelines.

“The thing is even with all the injuries we still have a squad of about 28 players so there is still competition for places,” said Bedford-Smith.

“These injured players are big losses, but it is up to others now to step up.”

Techs should have James Bothma, Eddie Ramazani, Al Murray and Jack Johnson available again this week.

In the same division, Plymstock Oaks II have a tough home game against third-placed Brixham II, while in Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II have a difficult trip to Camborne II.