IVYBRIDGE finished with an unbeaten record from their pre-season mini tournament with Saltash, Salcombe and Plymouth Dolphins on Saturday at Cross-in-Hand.
The four clubs each played 30-minute matches against each other on the artificial pitch as they all opened their warm-up campaigns.
Ivybridge were able to field two full squads and so started with a predominantly second team in their opening match against the Dolphins before sending out their first team against Saltash and then they mixed it up for their third fixture against Salcombe, who did need to borrow some players from the other sides due to availability issues.
The Bridgers beat the Dolphins 24-0 in their opening game, before edging out Saltash 21-7 and then easing to a 39-5 victory over Salcombe.
The first half of their match against the Dolphins was quite tight, with just a try by hooker Jake Winters separating the sides, but the hosts did pull away in the second period with another try by the impressive Winters and further touchdowns from Craig Julian and Harrison Legge.
Ivybridge then really had to show their defensive qualities in their second match against Saltash.
The Cornish side dominated territory and possession in the opening half but could not turn it into points and in first-half injury-time Ivybridge number eight Joe Owen scored against the run of play to give them a 7-0 lead at the break.
The home side immediately doubled that lead straight after the change of ends with winger Jack Guyver scoring in the left corner after some great passing across the line.
Saltash, who were missing a number of their Counties Two Cornwall title winning squad, did respond. They were ruled to have been held up over the line before Ryan Cruickshanks scored in the corner.
But Ivybridge sealed the hard-earned win with a converted try by Jack Skinner.
The Bridgers did have far more ball in their final fixture against Salcombe. They scored three tries in the opening 15 minutes courtesy of Ryan Cox, Owen Garner and Josh Hughes to lead 17-0.
And they added four more tries in the second period with Guyver, scoring in the corner before full-back Aaron Joint crossed the whitewash twice and then replacement scrum-half James Cantin went over. Salcombe did score a consolation try in injury-time through Lee Clarke.
New Western West side Saltash did use the tournament to have a look at many of their younger players.
They opened their day with a frustrating 12-12 draw against Salcombe, whose team was boosted by a number of Ivybridge players.
Josh Hughes, guesting for Salcombe, gave the Crabs the lead before Scott Williams levelled for Saltash.
The Ashes were held up over the line in the second half before forward Liall Honey showed his strength to score.
But with the last play of the game, Salcombe equalised through another Ivybridge player, and Clarke added the conversion to level the contest.
After their frustrating defeat to Ivybridge, Saltash totally dominated against the Dolphins, winning 52-0.
Greg Eatwell bagged a hat-trick of tries, while there were also touch-downs for Cruickshanks, Ryan Thomas, Fin Jones, Matt West and former Penryn player Tom Hoban, who has joined the Ashes this summer.
The Dolphins battled hard but struggled to create too many try scoring opportunities through the day.
However, they did manage a try in their match against Salcombe, who beat them 19-5. Taylor Ryan showed his strength to score in the losing stages of that contest.
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