DEVONPORT Services head coach Ben Russell described his side’s performance as ‘unreal’ as they beat in-form Hinckley 28-22 at the Rectory on Saturday.
It was Services’ third win of the season and has given them some hope of pulling off a great escape and staying in National Two West.
Their task does remain incredibly tough as they are 11 points from safety with seven games to go, but Russell feels his side do have some belief now.
“That’s now win number three and, hopefully, it will be number four next time around,” said Russell.
“We are battling and battling. We have four more home games, and we need to win three of them – although we’d like to win all four. We have some tough trips on the road to Camborne, Redruth and Loughborough, but we have some winnable games and we have been playing better and better.”
On Saturday’s performance, Russell said: “I think if you look at the game in general, we were unreal – our physicality, our work-rate and everyone on the pitch from one to 20 just gave it their all.
“That was our best defensive performance of the year, especially going down to 14 men twice. It was just class.
“Everyone from one to 20 was just brilliant. No-one gave up.
“Yeah, we missed some tackles, but you know what? boys then scrambled and backed their mates up. It was just outstanding. Everyone was just very, very good.
“Attacking-wise we probably weren’t quite as on the money as we were at Clifton the previous week, but defensively we were unreal.”
Services’ win probably should have been more comfortable than it was. They were 28-17 up with 79 minutes on the clock and were defending brilliantly, but they picked up a yellow card and Hinckley scored a late try.
Devonport did get a penalty in injury-time, which was kickable and could have denied Hinckley a bonus point, but Services took the safe option and kicked it out to make certain of the full five points.
After picking up a bonus point away at title-chasing Clifton last weekend, Services did come out confident on Saturday.
They looked really up for the game and straight from the whistle their tackling was outstanding.
The home side took the lead in the 19th minute with a great try from centre Tom Davies. Services had enjoyed some good possession, but the breakthrough came when Davies hit a perfect line to break through the Hinckley defence and run from just outside the 22 to score. Richard West added the conversion from the left.
But Hinckley did respond almost immediately. They pressed from the restart and, although Services, kept them out for a number of minutes, the visitors did finally find a gap when full-back William Callan crossed on the right and Rory Vowles added the conversion.
Devonport, though, were looking confident and in the 30th minute they went back in front when hooker Aiden Taylor scored from a catch-and-drive move and West added the conversion.
The home side probably should have had another score with the way they were playing, but it didn’t come and with the last play of the half, Hinckley cut their lead to 14-10 with a Vowles penalty.
Hinckley, whose only defeats since December 15 had been one score losses to title-chasing Camborne and Clifton, did start the second half on the front foot. However, Services’ defence was immense.
But in the 52nd minute the visitors were awarded a penalty try after the referee deemed that Devonport had illegally stopped a maul on the first attempt.
If giving the penalty try was not bad enough, the official also yellow carded hooker Taylor.
Yet with a player less, Services went back in front with a brilliant try by George Pooley.
After turning defence into attack, West put in a clever reverse pass for Pooley, who then had the strength and speed to race to the line while holding off four defenders to score. That made it 21-17 and six minutes later it became 28-17 with another tremendous try.
Devonport’s great tackling forced Hinckley to drop the ball close to the line. James McFarlane pounced on the loose ball which eventually came to West. He put in a high clearing kick into space on the right. It was high enough for Pooley to read it and beat a Hinckley player to collect it in the air. The winger than broke before off-loading to Davies, who ran in from the halfway line to score under the posts.
Hinckley tried their best to get back into the game, but they were struggling to find any way to break down Services’ defence. They kept trying to just force their way through, but Devonport had the answer to it.
In the 70th minute, Dan Goldstone was yellow carded for Services and Hinckley did spend the next 10 minutes pressing for a try. It did eventually come in the 80th minute when full-back Callan went over for his second on the right when Hinckley’s extra man eventually told.
The visitors were probably hoping to do like Old Redcliffians had done to Services a few weeks previously when they scored deep in injury-time to win, but the Devonport players were determined not to let the same thing happen again. This time they were able to see the game out for a valuable five points.
REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE’S terrible season continued on Saturday as they were beaten 71-7 away at third-place Exmouth.
It was the sixth time in 18 games the Bridgers had conceded 60 or more points and the third time they had shipped more than 70.
Ahead of the match, Ivybridge had parted company with head coach Davy McGregor with the club facing almost certain relegation.
Their fate could be sealed in their next league game against St Austell, unless they pick up a victory and Marlborough lose to Exmouth.
The Bridgers made a terrible start at the Imperial Ground on Saturday and found themselves 31-0 down after just 30 minutes.
Bobby Pond, Charlie Gibbings and Finlay Marks (2) scored tries in the opening half-an-hour for the home side, with George Meadows adding four conversions and a penalty.
Ivybridge did pull a try back courtesy of young scrum-half James Cantin, who has been one of the plus points this season, and a conversion by Matt Grieveson.
But further tries for Marks and Pond gave Exmouth a 45-7 lead at the break.
Ivybridge did stem the flow at the start of the second period, but in the final 24 minutes, Exmouth ran away with it and Freddy Elliott, Charlie Gibbings, Toby Papp and Liam Bayley added further tries.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
IT IS looking like Tavistock will finish in the bottom two of Western West after they were beaten 58-17 at home by Kingsbridge.
They are now eight points behind third-from-bottom Penryn and 11 behind ninth-placed St Ives.
Tavistock started quite brightly on Saturday and took the lead courtesy of a try by Tom Burgess.
Kingsbridge did hit back and scored three tries before Ollie Plummer claimed his first for Tavistock after some sustained pressure.
The home side were only 22-12 down at half-time, but Kingsbridge totally pulled away in the second period.
“Second half we were all over the place,” admitted player-coach Hammy Kerswill. “There were unforced errors and we didn’t utilise the ball we won from set-piece, which was an area we dominated.
“A couple of interceptions and charge downs followed before we did get a push over try from a scrum.
“We thought hard to the last play to try and get a bonus point, but we knocked on 10-metres out.
“We will keep fighting with five games to go, but we’ve made it a damn hard job for ourselves.”
At the other end of the table, Plymstock Oaks stayed in fourth place after a comfortable 43-13 win over Wiveliscombe at Horsham Fields.
Head coach Lewis Paterson had said they wanted to get off to a good start and they did change ends 24-3 up.
Number eight Ollie White got them off the mark with a try in the 17th minute, which Paterson converted.
Wiveliscombe did respond with a penalty but that was wiped out by one by Paterson before Alex Chapman and Paterson scored converted tries to leave them in command at the break.
After the interval they extended their lead to 31-3 with another try and conversion from player-coach Paterson.
The home side did then have Joel Moran yellow carded and Wiveliscombe did pull a try back while Oaks were a man down.
The visitors got another in the 65th minutes, but Oaks pulled away in the closing stages with touch-downs from backs Jack Tweedie and Corey Jamieson.
COUNTIES TWO CORNWALL
SALTASH need just one more point now to be crowned Counties Two Cornwall champions after hammering a battling Hayle side 111-0 on Saturday at Moorlands Lane.
They could have actually won the title this weekend had second-placed Helston slipped up at Perranporth, but the Lizard Peninsula side did pick up a bonus point win to make the Ashes wait another couple of weeks.
Saltash will seal the title if they beat their neighbours and fellow Plymouth Combination side Liskeard-Looe at Lux Park on March 1.
They were totally dominant against Hayle on Saturday, and they managed to break the 100-point barrier for the first time since they got their new digital scoreboard.
The home side were on the board after just 21 seconds of the match when they put skipper James Moriarty over for the first of what would be four tries for him.
From that point it was one-way traffic as the points racked up for a half-time score of 66-0
The visitors to their credit produced patches of possession in the second period although it wasn’t enough to stop the Saltash juggernaut.
The Ashes other tries came from centre Danny Snook (4), centre Greg Eatwell (3), flanker Phil Eatwell (2) with further contributions from prop Liall Honey, hooker Rob Walsh, lock Tom Rixson and flanker Fin Jones went over, as well as having a hand in putting several of his team-mates clear for scores.
From the kicking tee, scrum-half Jack Pritchard sliced the uprights with eight conversions and full-back Ryan Cruikshanks added a further five.
There was also an encouraging debut for Pete Harrigan on the wing.
Hayle did deserve a lot of credit for fulfilling the fixture and giving it their all, despite their lowly position.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
TAMAR Saracens have dropped into the bottom three of Counties Two Devon after losing 38-22 away at fellow strugglers South Molton.
Sarries had been looking on course for a win in the first half as they led 22-10 thanks to tries by Ed Cox, Adam Corbett and Joey Pook and two conversions and a penalty from Rob Hall.
But it all went wrong for them in the second half. They also lost experienced forward Marc Cioffi with a suspected broken wrist and flanker Tommy Windeatt with a head injury.
Pete Lethbridge said: “By all accounts we were playing really well first half and dominating all areas the game.
“But within five minutes of the second half starting they were only 22-17 behind and then it became 31-22.
“We just imploded. The wheels came off second half and we also picked up a few more injuries.
“But South Molton is always a tough place to go.
“Our big game now is Dartmouth at home in two weeks’ time.”
Plymouth Argaum’s hopes of escaping the drop are now very slim after they went down 63-26 away at Topsham II.
Although bottom side Argaum did pick up a try-scoring bonus point at Bonfire Field, they are eight points behind third-from-bottom Tamar Saracens and 10 behind South Molton with just four games to go.
And those four games are against Torquay, Exeter Saracens, Honiton and OPMs.
On Saturday, Dan Smith did score a hat-trick of tries for them, with Tom Mann also bagging a touch-down, while Rory McCarthy kicked three conversions.
“We got a bonus point and it’s nice to get something on the road,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery
“The guys played with a really good attitude. Unfortunately, every time we gave the ball away they scored.
“But all-in-all it was a really positive game. We had 18 travel when it was a fixture I was a bit worried about, but we got a bonus point.
“Even though the scoreboard does not look great, it was a good performance, and the team were quite upbeat at the end. It was just nice to get something on the road.”
But he added: “Unfortunately, it does look like we might be going down. Last year it was a struggle to stay in the league and this year it has also been a bit of a struggle after losing Al Sullivan and Eddie McGinley as coaches. We just need to re-group in the off-season.”
Mid-table OPMs took plenty of positives from a 36-6 away defeat against unbeaten leaders Torquay Athletic.
It was the joint lowest score a team had conceded at home to Torquay, who had been averaging 68 points a game on their own pitch this season.
“It was actually one of those fixtures that the score did not necessarily reflect the game as they got two quite late tries,” said OPMs team manager Shaun Grundy.
“It was a fantastic effort. There were positives all-round in defence, especially against a side at the top of the table. They were incredibly complementary after the game about the defence we put in.
“We were really, really happy with the performance, even though we ultimately came away with nothing.
“We did struggle with selection this week and not for a good reason as we had some availability issues. We had a starting front-row that was not our usual one, but they really put in a performance. It shows that as the season has gone on we have really developed our depth.”
OPMs’ points came from two Matt Smale penalties, while Joel Armitage (2), Carl Turner, Craig Withers, Tony Brierley and a penalty try accounted for Torquay’s scores.”
Devonport Services II stay in second place behind Torquay after they beat Dartmouth 25-7 away.
The match saw Matt Neyle make his comeback from a year-long injury and he converted an early try by Sean Harrison.
Neyle then kicked a penalty before prop Matt Storey scored Services II’s second try to make it 15-0.
Dartmouth pulled a converted try back but two late tries by hooker Josh Martin sealed the five points for Services II.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
OLD Techs have kept themselves in the Devon South & West title race by beating Brixham II 33-19 at Weston Mill on Saturday.
Techs claimed a full five points and denied their rivals anything to keep the promotion fight as a three-horse race.
Ivybridge II continued to lead after they hammered Torquay Athletic II 83-0. They have 67 points to their name, while Techs are second with 62 points, and Brixham II are third with 61 points but do have a game in hand, while Ivybridge II and Techs still have to play each other at Cross-in-Hand.
“It was a good game and to get the bonus point and not let them get anything was a real bonus for us,” said Techs secretary Colin Bodenham.
Techs led 21-0 at half-time thanks to tries by Josh O’Hare, Will Booth and Ollie Davey, all of which were converted by Sammie Matts.
The home side then got a penalty try in the second period. Brixham II did make a bit of a comeback after the break and got three tries, but crucially Techs did not let them get a fourth.
Ivybridge II were totally dominant in their home match against Torquay II.
Henry Bryan, Lewis Cook and Harry West both scored two tries apiece, while there were also touch-downs for Luke Martell, Sam Wilmington, Callum Law, Seb Musgrave, Harry Towle and Simon Merryfield, while Martell kicked nine conversions.
There was a welcome win in the same division for Plympton Victoria, who beat Plymstock Oaks II 13-0 at St Mary’s Field.
It meant Plym Vic had achieved the double over Oaks II, having overcome them 53-3 away earlier in the season.
Their win on Saturday has also moved Plym Vic out of the bottom two and above Oaks II in the table.
“It’s nothing the players don’t deserve for their efforts in the last few weeks,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“It was really good. Our scrummage looked powerful. Oaks did have quite a few colts in their side, so you would probably expect us to be a bit stronger in the set-piece.
“But it was really good and it was deserved.
“It is nice to get a win, the lads are really buzzing and happy. We don’t expect to beat everyone, but it’s always nice to get a just reward occasionally.”
Chris Barratt scored a try for Plym Vic which he also converted, while Alex Buckley kicked two penalties.
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