THE first set of Plymouth Combination cup finals take place at Keyham tonight.
In the opening match at 6pm, the Peninsula Medical School will take on Devonport Services III in the Pedrick Cup, while at 7.30pm Plymouth Argaum will battle it out with Tavistock II for the RNEC Cup.
Due to a problem with floodlights, the finals cannot be held at the Rectory as usual.
However, there is due to be a bar and barbecue at Keyham this evening, while next week’s Lockie Cup and Ellis Trophy finals will be held at Brickfields.
For Argaum and Tavistock II this evening’s RNEC Cup final offers the chance to end tough seasons in new leagues on a high.
Argaum made the move up to Counties Two Devon where they finished third from bottom, which was the same position Tavistock II’s ended up in Counties Three Devon South & West after joining the league.
“It has been quite a tough season having been promoted,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery. “The extra travelling has particularly been a burden for a lot of the players and we are just finding our feet.
“I’m glad that we have managed to secure a position in the league for next year, but it would be nice now to push on and get a piece of silverware.
“This is an opportunity to put some of the poor availability behind us and just enjoy ourselves.
“We know that Tavistock are likely to bring a strong team and I’m not sure who the surface will suit the most.
“We’ll be looking to throw the ball around and enjoy the evening on a decent surface.
“We have reasonable availability. It is a completely different side to what we took to Barnstaple.”
Argaum are set to have the likes of Jake Turfrey, Tom Holiday and Tom Mann available, but they are likely to be missing Tom Worboys, Al Sullivan, Dan Smith, Owen Gocher, Chris Perkins, Billy Stockwell, Jack Green, Eddie McGinley, Al Percival, Tom Shepherd and Adam McCrohan.
Tavistock II have named quite a strong squad with Charlie Charlton, Jack Giddy, Richard Cann, Liam Watts and Sean Donnelly among their starters.
“It’s not been the easiest of seasons for the Moorlanders,” said Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy. “They have suffered with availability issues and they have been hit by us dragging lads into the first team. But they can go out on a high with a cup final.
“It’s the last dance of the season and the lads can just go out there and do their thing and see what happens and maybe get some silverware.”
The Medics and Devonport Services III are also likely to be strong for their Pedrick Cup match beforehand.
Services III only reached the final on Monday night by beating Marjon 46-29 at Keyham.
Their side tonight includes a mixture of youngsters and older heads, like captain Tony Sibley. Their backline does have plenty of experience in it with Toby Moss, Luke Stannard and Sam Fincham included.