COME 5pm on Saturday, Devonport Services might just be celebrating promotion to National League rugby.
Services make the long trip to Lydney knowing any kind of a win in the Forest of Dean will secure them the Regional One South West title and with it the move up to level four.
“If we win on Saturday, we have done something the club has never done in its history,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“And if we don’t win then we still have another week to try and do it.
“We have put ourselves in the position where we have to win one of our last two games to go up or we can actually lose both as long as we pick up a losing bonus point and score four tries in each.
“But we are going to Lydney to try and win the game.
“When we played them at home they really battled hard and they are quite a good side so it is not going to be easy. They have only lost to Chew and Barnstaple at home.”
Russell admits there is a sense of excitement around the club with promotion now within touching distance.
“There was a bit of a buzz last week at training,” he said. “It was the same kind of buzz in the lead up to the Devon Cup final last year.
“The boys have just been phenomenal since Christmas. We lost (28-24) away at Brixham (on January 13), who are in the top four, but that’s the only game we have lost since Christmas.”
Russell admits it would be a great achievement for some of the club’s more experienced players like Matt Gregory and Richard West to help Services to another promotion and reach level four.
Devonport do have forwards Rikki Bentham and Mark Friend available again after they missed last week’s game at Launceston, but Matt Neyle and Tyler Busfield are possible doubts after picking up niggling injuries.
Toby Knowles is unable to travel this week, while fellow back Toby Lean is unavailable.
Ivybridge head coach Davy McGregor is hoping to see the best of his side now that the threat of relegation has been lifted.
The Bridgers travel to bottom side Weston-super-Mare boosted by a 20-11 home victory over Exmouth, which guaranteed they would avoid finishing in the bottom two.
They go into the penultimate weekend of the season sitting ninth in the table and could still catch eighth-placed St Austell.
“We have to build on it now,” said McGregor. “I have said to the lads ‘just don’t think the season is over now’.
“We are 11 points above (the relegation zone), but you don’t know what could happen.
“From my perspective it gives us breathing space. We can look at this week with a little less pressure.
“This year we seem to have had pressure every single game.”
Ivybridge have won five of their last six home games, but their form on the road has not been as good.
“I think we have only won one away game this season and that’s not good enough,” said McGregor, who is hoping his team can improve that record in the final two weeks of the season.
The Bridgers have won their last three meetings with Weston-super-Mare, including a narrow 29-27 victory at Cross-in-Hand in December.
Ivybridge are missing Tom Scoles and Tom Hancocks, who picked up injuries last weekend, while Will Peakman and Jack Skinner return in the second-row in place of the experienced George Wilson and Jamie Tripcony, who impressed against Exmouth. Matt Grieveson is available again, but will start on the bench.
* Seven Devonport Services players, two from Ivybridge, two from Plymstock Oaks and one from Tavistock have been named in Devon’s squad to play Cornwall in the Tamar Cup on Wednesday night at Ivybridge.
Services’ Rikki Bentham, Aiden Taylor, Andy Pond, James Hocking, Richard West, Harrison Coonick and Shaun Crawford will all start for Devon, along with Oaks’ Tom Richards, while Ivybridge’s Adam Northcott and Henry Trudgill will be on the bench, along with Oaks’ Corey Jamieson and Tavistock’s George Hillson.
Services’ Freddie Davies will start for Cornwall, who have, at the request of Devon, only selected players at level five and below. Liskeard-Looe’s Adam Powell is named among the replacements for Cornwall.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks will be hoping to take the title race down to the final weekend of the season as they visit fourth-placed Kingsbridge on Saturday.
Oaks currently sit second in the table, one point behind leaders Tiverton, with Paignton, who they play in their final match, just four points behind with a game in hand.
So Plymstock know they need to pick up some point at High House to keep in the race for the league crown.
They ended their home campaign last week with a 59-17 victory over bottom side Falmouth.
They are set to make three changes to their starting line-up, with the experienced Matt Finn and Corey Jamieson returning after beginning on the bench last week, with Ollie White also coming back in.
Oaks did comfortably beat Kingsbridge 44-22 at Horsham Fields in December, but the South Hams club are much stronger at home.
Kingsbridge have only lost twice on home soil this season – a one-point defeat against Paignton and a two-point loss to Tavistock.
Meanwhile, Tavistock will be looking to do want no-one else in the league has managed this season – a win at Penryn.
If Tavistock could claim a victory in Cornwall then they could still finish above Penryn in the table.
Penryn are currently sixth, with Tavistock six points behind in seventh.
“We are going somewhere where no-one else has won this season, so we have nothing to lose,” said Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy.
“We know we have lads in our team that can change a game, so we’ll just see what happens.”
He added: “On paper we could finish sixth, which would be bloody good in our first season, but finishing where we are would still be good.
“But it would be nice if we could finish with two wins.”
Tavistock, though, are once again hit by a number of unavailabilities, particularly in the forwards, where they are set to be without front-rowers Rich Cann, Toby Teague and Joe Burbage, but lock/back-rower Jack Osborne should be back.
COUNTIES TWO
IT’S D-day for Saltash in Counties Two Cornwall as they take on title-rivals Redruth II in a top-of-the-table clash at Moorlands Lane.
Although both teams will have to play one more game after Saturday – against sixth-placed St Just – it is more-or-less winner takes all this weekend.
Redruth II currently sit three points ahead of Saltash, having won the meeting at the Recreation Ground in December. However, crucially the Ashes did pick up a try-scoring bonus point in that match – they are the only team to have picked up one in every game they have played this season.
The Ashes are unbeaten at home in two seasons, but they will be wary of Redruth II, who are even running a supporters’ coach to the game.
A big crowd is expected and Saltash will just be hoping that after missing out on promotion last season to St Ives, despite only losing one game, that they can make home advantage tell and move to the top of the table with just one match to go.
The Ashes make just one change to their starting line-up that beat Newquay Hornets 62-7 away last weekend, with fit-again captain Jay Moriaty coming in on the wing after coming on as a replacement last Saturday.
In Counties Two Devon, Plymouth Argaum will be aiming for their first away win of the season to help them guarantee finishing outside the bottom two when they take on already-relegated Ivybridge II at Cross-in-Hand.
Arguam currently sit third-from-bottom and are six points clear of second-from-bottom North Tawton, who have played a game more.
If Argaum win or North Tawton don’t pick up at least a point from their trip to South Molton, then the Bickleigh Down club will avoid finishing in the bottom two.
“It is a very big fixture for us with them being at the bottom and us hoping to pull away from the relegation zone,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“If we go there and get five points, I think we might be reasonably safe.”
He added: “A lot of the guys are looking forward to this weekend.
“We have reasonably good availability. Our juniors are away at Exeter Chiefs so, unfortunately, we have lost a couple of players who are parents as well.
“But even with the likes of Dan Smith, Billy Stockwell, Owen Gocher, Al Sullivan, Adam McCrohan and Mike Dyer missing we still have possibly one of the better sides we have put out all season.
“I think we are looking forward to having the opportunity to throw the ball about a bit and play a bit of rugby, which is something we haven’t really had much opportunity to do this year.
“We know that our forwards can compete against anyone in the league, but this will be a good opportunity to see our backs against theirs with a dry ball.
“I’m sure they (Ivybridge) will be fancying themselves.
“But we just have to go up there and play like we think we should and look to get that first win on the road. Anything other than a win, then I think we will be disappointed, but we don’t know what type of Ivybridge team we are going to face.”
OPMs have a tough test as they host leaders Barnstaple II at King George V Playing Fields.
Barnstaple II go into the match knowing a win would guarantee them the title, but second-placed Torquay Athletic will be desperately hoping OPMs can cause an upset.
Barnstaple II have not lost since November 18, but their three defeats have come away from home and two of those losses have been against struggling North Tawton and Plymouth Argaum.
OPMs, who are having a sponsors and VP day on Saturday, were short of players when they played Barnstaple II away in January and so handed them a walkover ahead of kick-off before playing a 12-a-side match, which the hosts won 50-29.
In the same division, third-placed Devonport Services II visit fourth-placed Exeter Saracens.
Many of Services’ second team had wanted to travel to Lydney to cheer on the first team in their vital Regional One South West clash, but the club want their second team to finish on a high.
They will be expecting a tough test at Exeter Saracens, who have only lost twice at home all season and who pushed them hard at the Rectory in December before Services II eventually triumphed 41-32.
COUNTIES THREE
IT’S derby day in Devon South & West as Old Techs host big rivals Tamar Saracens at Weston Mill.
Both clubs go into the big clash in good form and have only lost one game in the last couple of months.
Sarries are guaranteed to finish in the top two after beating Plymstock Oaks 26-10 last weekend, while Techs moved up to sixth last Saturday after beating Brixham II 8-5 away.
“They (Techs) have had some great results recently, including beating Brixham last week,” said Saracens head coach Mike Lewis.
“We know how they play and exactly what to expect.
“We did a bit of a video session on Tuesday to look through what they do and how they do it. Will that help us or will it over-complicate things? I don’t know, but at least we have prepared as well we can.
“I think if we play our brand of rugby and they play theirs then we might nullify each other slightly. We could play the best rugby we have ever played but still might only win by one point as it is a local derby and they are always a leveller.
“It is always a game where you can flip a coin to see which way it will go.
“In recent years it has always tended to swing our way and I think we have just tried to play a bit more rugby to our benefit really.”
The match early this season at Brickfields certainly could have gone either way. In the end Sarries just edged it 10-5.
“They carried really well in that game and made some yards,” said Lewis. “We tried to go around them a bit, but didn’t quite get around them as well as we should have and usually do. However, they’ll probably say they could have gone for us a little bit better.”
Techs have not actually beaten Sarries in a league game since 2012, but many of the fixtures have been tight and come down to the odd score.
“Sarries will be favourites,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith. “There’s no getting away from that.
“They are second again and they are there for a reason as they are a decent side who are pretty consistent, which is what we are trying to do.
“It’s been a long time since we have beaten them, but there’s normally never much in it. The problem for us is that we have tended to lose by just a few points.
“We gave them a really good game at Albion. That was one of our better performances. I think we have been closing the gap on them as there was a big gap for a while.
“I think the boys are looking forward to this one, especially after last week’s win at Brixham.
“It was a really good squad performance last week and we will need that again this Saturday.
“Everyone will have to be on their game. Hopefully, we can get that win, but we know they will not want to lose to us.
“Hopefully, there will be a good crowd down there watching.”
Techs are having a sponsors and old boys’ day. Any sponsors or former players can join them at 1pm.
Malvin Donono, Lee Puleston, Jack Williams and Tony Luxton who played last week are probably likely to miss Saturday’s match, but Techs hope to have Dan Pullen, Lewis Harvey, Phil Flower, Tom Blythe, Joe Bailey and Jack Courtney available.
Sarries are again missing a few, but mainly in the forwards.
In the same division, Plympton Victoria play their final home game when they host the inconsistent Torquay Athletic II at St Mary’s Field.
Plym Vic will have a point to prove after losing 66-21 to the Tics’ second string away at the start of December.
Seventh-placed Plymstock Oaks II will host Kingsbridge II at Horsham Fields, with their first teams clashes at High House at the same time, while Tavistock II are due to host Brixham II at Sandy Park, but they are struggling for players again due to injuries and unavailabilities in the first team.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II will travel to Lankelly-Fowey.