DEVONPORT Services suffered a disappointing end to 2024 as they were beaten 45-0 away at Exeter University on Saturday in National Two West.
It was the first time since February 2025 that Services had not scored a single point in a league game, and they remain 13 points from safety.
Exeter University scored four first half tries to lead 26-0 at the break and then they added a further three in the second period against their under-strength Devon visitors.
Dewi Thomas, Seth Finlay, Dylan Power, Josh Mann, Josh Golden-Clark (2) and Noah Fenton crossed the whitewash for the students.
“They scored off all our mistakes pretty much,” said a disappointed Services head coach Ben Russell.
“It just wasn’t very good from us, to be honest.
“We did have a few boys missing. Some boys stepped up brilliantly, but they (Exeter University) were just fitter and just ran and ran and ran.
“We defended well for the time we defended, but it was just too many missed tackles at certain times.
“We were better last week (against Camborne), to be honest. Exeter University were just young, fit, have some quality players and they play their structure very well.
“It’s been a good year, but it’s just not how we wanted it to finish.
“We just have to make sure we kick-on in January.”
Services were missing Richard West, Dylan Daley, Bertie Fordham and Henry Gliddon from the previous week, while James Hocking, Mark Friend, Mike Rickard, Harrison Coonick, Matt Neyle, Toby Knowles and Kieran Down were still out injured.
Russell expects Rickard and Coonick to be out for the rest of the season, while Neyle is not going to be back after Christmas as initially expected.
However, there is still belief that Services can close the gap on the teams above them after the festive break.
“We now have all the teams around us at home and we just have to target every single one of those,” said Russell.
“It will be tough going to Camborne and hosting Taunton, but we have the likes of Hickley, Macclesfield and Old Reds at home. We have to try and win those games.”
REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE remain 12 points off safety in Regional One South West after they lost 27-5 at home to Royal Wootton Bassett.
The Wiltshire side, who had beaten Ivybridge 78-8 at their place earlier in the season, had the strong wind behind them in the first half and led 19-5. Ivybridge had hoped to be able to turn that around in the second period, but they were not able to do so.
“The wind was a big factor, I think,” said Ivybridge skills coach Steve Atkinson. “They had the wind in the first half, but in the second half the wind died down a bit.
“It was a good game and it was a much better defensive performance from us from last week and certainly the previous weeks where we had been shipping a lot of points.”
He added: “We have got a very young side. We did some stats as we did a half-year review for the supporters, and we worked out that we have an average age of 23 so far and 25 for our second team when other teams have average ages of 27 or 28.
“We are trying to build. We do have a tight-knit good bunch of boys. We have a little break now and we’ll just see what happens.”
Centre Adam Lilley scored Ivybridge’s only try in the 15th minute of the match.
Ivybridge will begin 2025 with a tough trip to Polson Bridge to take on Launceston on January 4.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks and Tavistock both ended 2024 with away defeats in Western West.
Oaks, who had started the day in second place, were beaten 22-7 away at Redruth II and struggling Tavistock suffered a 29-0 loss at previously winless bottom side Bideford.
Tavistock had been struggling to get a side together to make the trip to north Devon, but they did travel and avoided a points deduction and player-coach Hammy Kerswill did think there were positives despite the defeat.
“If we’d had two or three extra bodies, I think we could have turned them over,” said Kerswill.
“It was 10-0 at half-time, but they scored a couple of late tries.
“It was one of our better performances. Defensively we did quite well, and we had a few more passages of attack than we’ve had in recent weeks.
“No disrespect to the boys we brought in as some of them were phenomenal, but we had a couple who were playing their first ever games of rugby since school and they are like 25-30 year olds and we had a couple like PJ Wilcox and Tom Friend who hadn’t played properly for years and a few others like myself, Ethan Lamerton, Richard Cann and Dan Yeatman all carrying niggles. When you put all that into context, it was a good performance.
“We also lost George Cole just after half-time with a broken finger, which didn’t help because he’s been really good since coming back.
“Our scrum faltered towards the end and their line-out was quite handy and they deserved to win.”
Oaks paid the price for a slow first half in Cornwall as they trailed 19-0 at the break.
They did close that gap after the interval with a try by Ollie White, which Lew Riley converted.
Oaks did press and Redruth II did pick up a yellow card 12 minutes into the second half, but the visitors could not get another try and the home side wrapped up the win with a late penalty kick.
The defeat has seen Plymstock drop down to third in the table and they are now 15 points behind leaders Paignton.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
SECOND-placed Devonport Services II finished strongly to see off a spirited Plymouth Argaum side 49-17 in miserable conditions at Bickleigh Down on Saturday.
The match was really tight in the first half, with Services II just edging it 21-17.
Dan Beer, Sam Fincham and Rhys Williams scored first half tries for the visitors, while Tom Holliday, Tom Worboys and Kieran Burring touched down in reply for bottom side Argaum.
But Services II pulled away in the final quarter with the returning Isaiah Akinrowo bagging a hat-trick and Leighton Stark also touching down.
Argaum head coach Dean Avery, who side had been forced to concede against Withycombe the previous week, said: “It was good to get a team out and get back on the pitch.
“We only really had two backs and the rest were forwards so we didn’t have much out wide so we tried to keep the ball quite tight.
“We played with the wind behind our backs first half and we did quite a lot but they had two breakaways that killed us a bit.
“It was quite close until the final 10 minutes or so, but they broke off the back of a scrum and ran 40 or 50 yards and then the floodgates opened and made the score look a lot better for them than it was.
“But I am really proud of the guys. We kept it tight and played the right game-plan in the conditions and with what we had, but just fitness told massively in the end.
“Credit to them, they just had too much pace, but it was a shame we didn’t get a bonus point.”
Services II player-coach Tom Richards, a former Argaum player, said: “First half we were going up the slope and they played their game really, really well. They set up some nice mauls that we couldn’t really defend very well so Dean Avery has done a good job with them there.
“They played the conditions very well and it was only until the last 20 or 30 minutes that you could tell we were going to start pressing on. Playing down the hill we started to play our sort of rugby.
“It was so good to do well with the team that we had out as we had so many unavailabilities for both the ones and the twos.
“It was doubly tough this week as we had the ones needing players from the twos and then we also had a few drop-outs which left us fighting against it.
“But it was good to see Kyle Felton back from injury. I’m sure he’ll be back in the ones after Christmas as he performed well when he came on.
“It was also great to have Isaiah back. He’s been out for a while with his weightlifting, but he came back and got the man of the match and scored a hat-trick. He was fantastic.”
He added: “It was the last day for one of our stand-out men on the sidelines, Gary Mitchell, who is heading off to America. He will be a big miss. He has been great for us.”
OPMs dug deep in tricky conditions to edge out their city rivals Tamar Saracens 18-12 at King George V Playing Fields on Saturday.
Games between the two clubs have always been tight in recent years and just one point separated the sides when they met earlier this season at the Parkway, with Sarries triumphing on that occasion with a late penalty.
Like in the September meeting, OPMs once again got ahead, but this time they did not let their lead slip.
Chris Jewell put the Old Boys ahead early on, but Adam Coutts was bundled over on 15 minutes to level the contest.
But then the Smale brothers linked up to score a fine try, with Matt putting in a clever kick for Fred to score and put OPMs 12-5 up at the break.
In the second half two Matt Smale penalties increased the home side’s lead to 18-5, but Sarries came back with a try by Tom Hicklin, which Rob Hall converted.
Sarries went looking for a winning score, but they just could not find one.
“It was frustrating,” said Tamar Saracens director of rugby Pete Lethbridge. “We were down to 16 players as we had a couple drop out, but we can’t use that as an excuse. We got the game on and I was gutted for the guys that played really as I thought we were the better of the two teams.
“Conditions were awful, but both teams played as much as they could. It was a good game, but obviously better for OPMs than us.
“We were missing quite a few players, but I can’t fault the boys who turned up. I was really proud of what they did.
“It was a bit disappointing as, like I said, I thought we were the better team in stages, but the better team wins if they score more tries. We did get a point out of it, so we can’t moan too much.”
OPMs captain Billy Garratt said: “It was definitely a win that was needed, but it definitely didn’t come easy.”
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
OLD Techs were surprisingly handed an away walkover by fourth-placed Salcombe on Saturday.
Techs had been preparing for a tough battle in the South Hams but in the end they were given the five points.
That keeps Techs level on points with leaders Ivybridge II, who overcame a battling Totnes side 33-7 away.
The league is now looking like a three-horse race between Techs, Ivybridge II and Brixham II, who beat a youthful Plymstock Oaks II side 76-17 at Horsham Fields on Saturday.
All pictures by Joseph Smith