DEVONPORT Services find themselves eight points adrift at the bottom of National Two West after they were beaten 55-22 away by fellow strugglers Hinckley.
The home side did the damage in the first half as they stormed into a 36-5 lead, but Services did come back in the second period and did score four tries for only their third point of the season.
“We were just a bit soft in defence,” said Devonport head coach Ben Russell. “And in attack we were trying to force the ball instead of holding it and when we lost it, they scored tries.
“But we came back in the second half and came away with a bonus point.
“When we played rugby we were brilliant, but we say the same thing every week – we can’t play for 40 minutes of the game and not play for the other 40 as you are going to ship tries.
“We just have to look after the ball better. We just don’t look after it enough and turn it over too easily.”
Services had travelled overnight for the first time to give themselves the best chance of getting something out of the match.
And the first 20 minutes were pretty even, but Hinckley really pulled away in the second 20 minutes of the opening period.
Mitch Lamb and Oli Bee both scored two tries for the Leicestershire side in the first half, to go with further scores from Nigel Mukarati and Murray Davidson.
Services’ only points in the first period came from back George Pooley.
Billy Pasco scored right at the start of the second half for Hinckley but suddenly Services got going and claimed three tries courtesy of front-rowers Rikki Bentham and James McFarlane and winger Henry Gliddon. Second team coach Tom Richards, called up for first team duty, added a conversion.
However, Callum Dacey added two more tries for Hinckley, who have jumped above Services’ opponents next week, Macclesfield, and into 12th place.
REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE have dropped into the relegation zone in Regional One South West after they suffered a fourth heavy defeat in a row, losing 62-12 at home to Devon rivals Brixham on Saturday.
The loss followed on from an 80-15 reverse at Barnstaple last week, a 49-15 home defeat to Launceston and a 78-8 trouncing away at Royal Wootton Bassett.
Brixham did play more than half of Saturday’s game with 14 players after having centre Louie Drennan red carded for a dangerous tackle. The Fisherman also twice went down to 13 men with two yellow cards, but on both occasions kept Ivybridge out and actually scored while two players light.
“I played at Brixham and I know how passionate they are as a group and when they went down to 13 men they were actually a more dangerous animal than they were with 15,” said Ivybridge head coach Davy McGregor.
“Fair play to them, but the frustration is that three of their scores were things that we worked on during Thursday night – we completely looked at, analysed and worked on.”
McGregor said preparations had been good for the game.
“We were confident in ourselves, and we’d had a really good training week and everyone was genuinely buzzing.
“And there were some good individual performances. We had an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old in James Cantin and Michael Jenson who were just outstanding. Hamish Harris is also just 19-years-old. My heart goes out to those boys as they are breaking themselves.
“The league is getting better. Two or three years ago that might have been a 20-point win but now teams will score tries.
“Our boys just have to keep grafting. We were in this position last year. We played our first seven games without a win, so it’s nothing new, but you just hope you can try and do things better and give them the best chance. I have always taken full responsibility for performance – I have no problem with that.
“A four-point win somewhere a long the line could just make that difference.”
Ivybridge were not helped by picking up more injuries in the contest.
“We picked up another three injuries, but I think a lot of that is to do with conditioning – we are not conditioned as a group and boys are feeling the impacts week-on-week,” said McGregor.
Any hopes Ivybridge had of causing an upset virtually disappeared in the opening seven minutes when Brixham scored two tries.
Their first came after just 90 seconds when hooker Harry Rodwell scored on the left after receiving an off-load from former Plymouth Albion winger Matt Crosscombe.
Brixham captain Jordan Watson then scored a second try for the visitors with a powerful run, and Mitch Pinkus added the conversion to make it 12-0.
Ivybridge, who lost fly-half Matt Grieveson with an injury on 17 minutes, nearly scored through new winger Erdem Mumcu, but he just put a foot on the touchline.
The Bridgers did have four early line-outs in Brixham’s 22, but on each occasion they lost them.
The visitors did not have loads of territory first half, but they were so clinical when they did get the ball. Their powerful and speedy backs were particularly dangerous from set plays.
They showed that on 27 minutes when centre Louie Drennan scored a fine converted try by bursting through from deep from a well-worked move from a line-out.
And it got better for Brixham three minutes later when fellow centre Andre Simonetti scored their bonus-point try on the left.
Watson was then yellow carded for the visitors and former Brixham player Chey Bryce scored from a catch-and-drive move for Ivybridge.
But the Fisherman hit back with another try from a set-piece. This time the visitors attacked from a scrum and full-back Joel Ashworth went over on the right.
However, straight from the restart, Brixham had Louie Drennan red carded for a tackle on Adam Lilley.
Just before half-time, Ivybridge’s young scrum-half Cantin thought he had scored but the referee said he was held up.
Trailing 31-5 at half-time, it was always going to be tough for Ivybridge, even though they had a man extra.
But it got worse for them within seconds of the restart when Brixham winger Connor Doneathy scored after Ashworth had done brilliantly after gathering an Ivybridge clearing kick that went straight to him.
Former Ivybridge man Pinkus, who had a good day with the boot, then kicked a penalty before Crosscombe scored on the left after more good play by Ashworth.
Brixham were then reduced to 13 players again when replacement Kyle Kane was yellow carded, but they scored just before he came back on with Crosscombe getting a second after Jason Capaldi had done brilliantly from another well-worked scrum move. Brixham just had too much pace and power for Ivybridge’s young backs to stop.
And the home team just did not appear to be able to speed their game up and make their numerical advantage tell.
It was only in the last five minutes that they took a quick tap penalty and threw it around a bit and Lilley did score on the left, but the final word went to Pinkus, who scored a try on his return to Cross-in-Hand.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks’ unbeaten start to the season came crashing to an end as they were hammered 50-3 away at the Pirates Amateurs.
However, on a weird day in Western West, Paignton’s unbeaten start also went as they lost 50-26 away at Barnstaple II so Oaks did not lose much ground.
Plymstock, missing quite a few players, never really got going and trailed 22-3 at the break at Mennaye Field.
Their only points came from a Lewis Paterson penalty in the 14th minute.
Ben Wragg, Archie Pilcher and Ted Hocking scored first half tries for the Pirates, with Wragg kicking two conversions and a penalty.
After the interval, Sam Carter, Wragg, Toby Osborne and Morgan Holman added further touch-downs for the Penzance-based club, with Wragg kicking the rest of their points.
Oaks’ Mark Lenthall said: “Pirates were better than us in every facet of the game – scrum, line-out, pace in the backs – everywhere.
“We had too many players missing – seven, possibly eight – and we don’t have the depth in the club to cover that many gaps. The lads who came in did the club proud at a tough place to go against a very good team.”
There was also disappointment for Tavistock in west Cornwall, as they were beaten 36-14 by fellow strugglers St Ives.
Tavistock, who travelled with a makeshift front-row, were only 8-6 down at the break and were only trailing by eight points going into the last 15 minutes.
“It was disappointing to leave with no points,” said Hammy Kerswill, who is on Tavistock’s coaching staff. “But it was a very spirited performance given a lot of unavailabilities.
“Those who stepped up really put in a shift away from home.
“We were 8-6 down at half-time and then later 22-14 down until the last 15 minutes.
“But their set-piece came good with 20 to go and they turned over a lot of scrum ball.
“When eight points down in our own half, Liam Watts went for a do-or-die interception only to be binned and for a penalty try to be awarded.
“They (St Ives) then scored a well-worked try from the kick-off.”
Watts scored Tavistock’s only try down at St Ives, with Soco O’Connor kicking three penalties.
COUNTIES TWO CORNWALL
SALTASH have opened up a six-point lead at the top of Counties Two Cornwall after they beat second-placed Helston 32-17 away on Saturday.
The Ashes were certainly made to work hard for their five points down on the Lizard Peninsula.
The visitors were on the board in the fifth minute when full-back Ryan Cruikshanks plucked a kick out of the air to score. Scrum-half Jack Pritchard added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
That lead was extended to 12-0 when visiting number eight Ryan Rayner went over from a line-out catch-and-drive move to score.
The home side came back into the game with a well-taken try to reduce the gap to 12-5.
But before the break, more Ashes possession saw centre Billy Dover put in a sublime pass to feed Cruikshanks to go under the posts for Pritchard to convert and make the half-time score 19-5.
After the turnaround, Rayner added a second try to extend the lead, coupled with a Pritchard conversion to make it 26-5.
However, Helston were not done and responded almost immediately with a touch-down. of their own, which they converted to close the gap to 26-12.
As the match wore on, the physicality continued with little reward for both teams, but Helston added another try, yet two Pritchard penalties sealed the win for Saltash.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
DEVONPORT Services II continued their unbeaten start to the season with a one-sided 83-7 home victory over Exmouth II at the Rectory on Saturday.
Services’ turned in a dominant first half display to lead 50-7 at the break.
Al Thomas (2), Yianni Costas, Ethan Millard, Charlie Groves, Dylan Harbour, Khane Young and Sam Fincham all scored first half tries for the home side, with Matty Anstis kicking six conversions.
After the interval, Harbour and Fincham added further scores, to go with two tries from Matt Richards and one from Ethan Hilland. Anstis added another three conversions.
“It was a brilliant win for the boys,” said Services II coach Tom Richards.
Oli Lane and Thomas impressed in the forwards, with Harbour shining in the backs to claim the man of the match award.
Plymouth Argaum have moved up to seventh in the standings after they beat South Molton 21-12 at home on Saturday.
It was their first win since the opening day of the season.
“We were so much better than on the road last week (at Exmouth II) with a similar sort of team,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“This time we didn’t give possession away cheaply. South Molton have some strong boys and they fronted up.
“We went 21-0 up in the first half and we were a little bit disappointed we didn’t get a bonus point, but the attitude was so much better.
“There was about 10 minutes to go and they were battering our line – I think it was 21-12 at the time – and we could have easily conceded a try but during that 10 minutes we held out well.”
Keiran Burring got Argaum underway with a try from a pick-and-go. Tom Holliday then added a second following a quick tap penalty before Darren Ewers added a third inside the opening 30 minutes.
But South Molton did come back and threatened a comeback, but Argaum were able to hold them out.
However, there was home disappointment for both Tamar Saracens and OPMs in Counties Two Devon.
Sarries were beaten 22-7 at the Parkway by Withycombe.
The match was tightly balanced at half-time, with Withycombe just edging the opening 40 minutes 10-7. Robbie Fowler scored Sarries’ try, with Rob Hall adding the conversion.
But Saracens could not turn it around in the second half and Withycombe added two more tries to claim the win.
Alex Peterson (2) and Luke Crompton scored for Withycombe, who picked up two yellow cards in the first half, including one for player-coach Adam Clayton.
“We were very, very flat from get-go really,” admitted Tamar Saracens director of rugby Pete Lethbridge.
“The warm-up was really lethargic; I don’t know what it was, I can’t put my finger on it.
“Our scrummage went well, but our line-outs were a bit hit and miss. We were also a little slow around the breakdown.
“It was 10-7 at half-time and we said the game was there to win, but I can’t explain what happened in the second half – we just went to sleep, none of our systems or plays worked.
“At one stage they were down to 13 players, but they ran away and scored.
“It just wasn’t there for us on the day, which was really frustrating as we trained really well this week and the boys were up for it.
“But we just didn’t get going. They (Withycombe) were a strong side, but in parts I thought we were the better side, but it just didn’t happen for us.
“It was a very frustrating day. We should have done better and it was a game we could have and should have won, but we didn’t and we have to now move on to Exmouth II next week away.”
OPMs were surprisingly beaten 24-15 at home by previously winless Dartmouth, who had started the day at the bottom of the table.
The Old Boys had gone 15-0 up inside the opening 18 minutes but then they lost their way.
Dartmouth pulled a converted try back before half-time before adding three more in the final 20 minutes of the match to pick up their first win since promotion.
“We were 15-0 up in about 15 minutes, but I think it boiled down to who wanted it more and they showed that they wanted it more,” said OPMs captain Billy Garratt.
“It was the other end of the spectrum to the game last week against South Molton.
“A few individual performances were poor, myself included. It was a difficult one to take.
“But Dartmouth, no matter what league we are in or what game it is, have always been a bogey team for us. We have always notoriously struggled against Dartmouth. We have had a couple of wins here and there, but the games have always been close. They have just been that team we have always struggled against.
“But fair play to them, they were the better team.”
COUNTIES THREE
IT WAS a weekend of walkovers in Devon South & West, with three of the five matches scheduled not taking place.
Old Techs were handed the points by Tavistock II, who have yet to field a side this season, while fellow unbeaten side Ivybridge II were handed a walkover by neighbours Plymstock Oaks II. Brixham II were also handed the points by Kingsbridge II.
Plympton Victoria did play – and actually got two teams out – but their first team were beaten 56-8 away at Paignton II.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II drew 31-31 in a thrilling game away at St Ives.
It was a good weekend for Saltash, whose new women’s team played their first match and beat fellow newcomers Plymouth Argaum 50-15 in front of a good crowd at Moorlands Lane.
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