A LATE Sam Brown interception try secured Devonport Services a hard-earned 33-27 away win at previously unbeaten Lydney on Saturday in Regional One South West.
Services had been 12-0 up and 26-17 ahead, but with seven minutes to go, Lydney took a 27-26 lead in front of their own supporters at Regentsholme. It was the first time in the match they have been in front.
The home side then got a penalty late on, but instead of going for the posts, they went for the corner and tried to attack from the set-piece. However, as they spun the ball wide, Brown read the pass and intercepted the ball, and he had the legs to run the length of the pitch and seal the win for his side.
“It’s always a tight game when we go there,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“We were losing with a minute to go, but Sam Brown has intercepted and run the length to score.”
He added: “They (Lydney) are a good side. They really battle hard. When we played how we can play, we tore them apart, but we got a bit nervous and lost our way a bit second half.
“However, I think the boys deserved the win in the end.
“Not many teams are going to go to Lydney and win. To do that is an achievement on its own and it was a win we needed.
“We said beforehand that they had beaten Brixham here and that they are physical, so we knew we needed to be better.
“We still dropped off a few too many tackles, but it was a good away win to dog out.”
The bonus-point victory has moved Services up to second, level on points with leaders Topsham, who also lost their unbeaten start to the season with a 46-35 defeat at Brixham.
Lydney had started the day in second and had won their last four matches, having opened their season with a draw, but Services took it to them straight from kick-off.
Tom Davies gave them the lead after just three minutes and Services continued to keep Lydney pinned in their half for most of the opening 20 minutes.
They added a second try courtesy of Brown after some good forward play. He also added the conversion to make it 12-0.
But the hosts levelled the match with tries by Brad Dunn and Jack Cuthbert.
However, Services regained the lead when Richard West scored following a maul to make it 19-12 going into half-time.
In an entertaining game, Lydney hit back again after the interval to pull it back to 19-17 with a second try by Dunn.
Devonport, though, went 26-17 ahead with a try by young back-rower Bertie Fordham.
Yet Lydney would not lie down, and they closed the gap again to two points with a touch-down from full-back Alex Nelmes.
And with seven minutes to go, Lydney went in front for the first time in the match after Rickie Aley kicked a penalty.
But they could not hang on and Brown’s length-of-the-field interception try won it for the visitors.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE made it four home league wins from four on Saturday with a comfortable 46-26 victory over Crediton at Cross-in-Hand.
It was their biggest win of the season and followed five tight matches, which had all been decided by eight points of less.
“It was a really good game,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson. “We started off really, really well again and went three or four tries up.
“We were in control for the whole game really, other than 15 or 20 minutes maybe, where they had their little spell.
“They didn’t have too much in attack, but whenever they put a high kick in we struggled with it, so that is something we will have to look at.
“But I was very happy. It was nice to get over that 30-point mark.
“It was good to get another home win and keep that 100 per cent home record.
“There was some really good game-management from the young lads as well. It does feel like it is starting to click.”
Ivybridge stormed into a 26-0 lead thanks to tries by Owen Garner, Adam Lilley (2) and Ben Winter.
But Crediton did pull one back before half-time courtesy of Ben Harris to make the score at the interval 26-7.
The visitors added another from scrum-half Ed Brady after the break, before Harry Newman-Wild kicked a penalty for Ivybridge to make it 29-14.
Crediton cut the gap again with a touch-down from full-back Josh Davey, but then Owen Garner scored two converted tries to complete his hat-trick and move his side 43-19 ahead.
The visitors did get a bonus point with a try by winger Josh Woodland, but Newman-Wild had the final word with a penalty.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks secured a much-needed home win as they beat Penryn 36-22 at Horsham Fields on Saturday.
In a tight league, Oaks had started the day at the foot of the table with just one win to their name from their opening four league games.
But their bonus-point victory on Saturday has moved them up to ninth and they are only five points off fourth place.
The first half was pretty tight with Oaks leading just 17-15 at the change of ends.
Kieran Jamieson had given them the lead after just two minutes before Penryn cut the gap with a James Salisbury penalty.
However, Oaks went 12-3 ahead with a touch-down from winger Will Scantlebury, which player-coach Lewis Paterson converted.
Penryn’s Chris Hillier and Oaks’ Kieran Jamieson then exchanged tries to leave the score at 17-8.
But just before the interval, Penryn pulled to within two points with a score by Freddie Jordan.
Oaks, though, really took control of the game after the interval, with Charlie Tweedie, Archie Gray and Scantlebury scoring further tries to put them 36-16 ahead.
However, Penryn did score a late consolation effort courtesy of Sam Hewitt.
“We were very happy indeed,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis afterwards on his team’s win.
“There has been a lot of hard work over the last few weeks for this performance.
“Results haven’t quite gone our way in recent weeks. We had been close but just hadn’t quite clicked.
“This week we probably still left a few points on the pitch – and probably Penryn did as well – however we came in with a better attitude and played how we wanted to do a bit more. We played the field position a bit better and our defence was strong.
“We just made a couple of tweaks in the side. A noticeable one was Ollie White at eight. He came in and carried really hard. It wasn’t that Archie Gray hadn’t been doing well at eight, but we put him in the row, and it just gave us like two number eights and gave us a bit more front-foot ball and gave us the opportunity to go around them a bit easier, which we did a fair few times.
“We knew the win was coming. We have great numbers at training, and the boys were buoyant.
“Every week we have between seven and nine lads who are first year seniors, and they are learning the game. It is a completely different game to what they have played for the last few years. The space they used to have, where they could go the length of the field, isn’t there anymore. But they are finding their feet really well. By the end of the season and going into next season, I think they will be really flourishing and pushing on.”
Saltash suffered yet more late heartbreak as they were agonisingly beaten 36-33 away at league leaders Paignton.
The Ashes, who had led 19-14 at half-time, had levelled the game at 33-33 close to the end, but a late penalty by Brad McKee broke Saltash’s hearts.
It was the fourth time this season they had lost by just one score.
The previous week they had lost by just one single point (36-35) to Wiveliscombe, they had also gone down 27-22 at Kingsbridge and 20-15 at Newton Abbot, who won deep in injury-time.
They did pick up five points against St Ives and have picked up six bonus points, including two on Saturday, which leaves them level on points with Oaks and only five points off fourth place.
The Ashes will just be hoping that as they get more used to the league, they will start turning the narrow defeats into victories.
The visitors did not have the best of starts at Queen’s Park.
They lost forward Fin Jones to an injury after just five minutes, and Paignton went ahead with a try by Josh Gillard.
But Saltash hit back and a flowing move ended with winger Will Morton going over in the corner.
The strong Paignton pack then pushed the Ashes back towards their own line and were rewarded with a converted try from Tom Osborn to make it 14-5.
Then Saltash began to get back into the match with good covering tackles and more confidence.
On the half hour, lock Lewis Woolaway broke through the Paignton defence to score, which Jack Pritchard, on his 100th appearance for the Ashes, converted.
And the visitors deservedly took the lead four minutes before the interval with good flowing rugby which saw Morton go over again for a try which Prichard added the extras from.
Five minutes into the second half, and after sustained pressure, the Ashes increased their advantage with hooker Rob Walsh jinking his way towards the home line and getting the ball down under the posts for a converted try. That made it 26-14 to Saltash.
A Paignton red card and a Saltash yellow card seemed to change the momentum of the game as the home side regained their control and got a 53rd minute try from Osborn to close the gap to 26-21.
Two minutes later and from a kick ahead, the Cherries retook the lead with another touch-down from Jack Linley-Shaw.
Saltash were losing their way and conceded another a try on the hour as Paignton’s Gillard finished off a cross-field passing move to make it 33-26.
However, Saltash came back again to press the home defence, and the impressive Rob Walsh evaded the Paignton tackles to cross the home side’s line, and with the successful kick Pritchard brought the score level.
At that point it was looking like Saltash could just end Paignton’s unbeaten home record, but the hosts snatched the win two minutes from time with McKee’s penalty kick.
Despite the heartbreak of losing late on again, the Ashes camp described the performance and returning with two bonus points from the leaders as ‘positive’.
They feel they are improving each week and getting to grips with the higher league, despite still missing a number of players.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
TAVISTOCK’S Sam Ridsdill suffered a nasty broken ankle that brought a premature end to their away match at Honiton.
The home side were 62-8 up at the time and both clubs were happy to accept the score, with just over 10 minutes to go.
Tavistock had been struggling to get a team together due to a stag-do in Benidorm, work commitments and injuries.
Ridsdill was one of those that answered the call to arms for players to make the trip to east Devon rather than forfeit five points.
He had been named among the replacements, but his afternoon ended in agony as he was taken to hospital in Exeter in an ambulance.
Tavistock had been missing the likes of Hammy Kerswill, Martin Budden, Dan Yeatman, Andrew Schuttkacker, Henry Shaw, Myles Costello, Vaughan Glover, Charlie Teague and Jordan Taylor.
But their makeshift team, who had to borrow some light blue shirts, were well in the game for 25 minutes, but once Honiton got a couple of tries up, then the scores started coming at regular intervals.
Ben Kidson (2), Dean Norman (2), Will Tyers, Tom Irish, Jonny House and Rhys Phillips crossed the whitewash for Honiton, with Tylo Coupland touching down for Tavistock and Freddie Fuller kicking a penalty.
“For the first 20 minutes we were brilliant and the rest of the game we showed real heart,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock, who had 17 players unavailable.
“Unfortunately, Sam Risdale, broke his ankle and that stopped the game at about 70 minutes.
“No-one wanted to continue after seeing something like that. It was not nice.”
He added: “The way I see it, we gained five points by not throwing the game in.
“Obviously, if I had known the poor lad was going to break his ankle, I would have given up five points, but you just don’t know. Rugby is a contact sport, but the whole club is gutted for him.”
Devonport Services II stayed in second place with a 43-18 win over bottom side Ivybridge II at Cross-in-Hand.
Services II did most of the damage in the second half as they were only 17-11 up at half-time.
Dylan Harbour, Rohan Johnson and Aaron Duffield scored their first half tries, with Leighton Stark converting one.
They did pull away after the interval with further touchdowns from Fin White, Stark, Ethan Hilland and Alex Gibson.
Josh Hughes and Charlie Moody scored Ivybridge II’s tries, with Luke Martell kicking one conversion and two penalties.
Ivybridge’s head coach Steve Atkinson watched the match, and he was encouraged by the second team’s performance. He hopes they can push on from it.
“The heart was there and we were really in the game for about an hour,” he said.
“We went into half-time really confident in our game.
“I don’t think we are really fit enough yet, but the boys worked really hard and gave it their all and that’s all we can really ask for.
“They are still adjusting to this league and the step up. The difference in leagues is massive.”
OPMs were handed a home walkover by Dartmouth, who did travel to King George V Playing Fields to play a ‘game-on’ match and avoid a points deduction.
“Dartmouth came with 12 players so we lent them three,” said OPMs head coach James Digweed. “They gave us the walkover anyway, but they travelled so they wouldn’t get deducted points and we played a friendly.
“We played 60 minutes and called it as we were winning 50-5. We didn’t want any injuries, but we got a run-out so it was good.
“Some boys who haven’t had a lot of game-time got a run-out, which was good for them.
COUNTIES THREE
TAMAR Saracens made it two wins in a row with an eye-catching bonus point 28-7 home win over city rivals Plymouth Argaum.
Sarries had got off the mark the previous week with a victory over struggling Kingsbridge II.
That win seemed to have given them confidence and they defended brilliantly against Argaum and took their chances when they came.
They were delighted with their victory against Argaum, whose only previous defeat had come against Brixham II.
“It was brilliant,” said captain Adam Corbett. “It was a great team performance.
“We had a full squad of 20, but some people were playing out of position, yet everyone stepped up. It was really good.
“Hopefully, we are just going to push on now.
“We said before the game that we wanted to be clinical in attack and in defence – making sure we are making tackles and giving them no space to play.”
Argaum were again missing a host of players, including Tom Worboys, Tom Holliday, Jake Turfrey, Will Lloyd, Tom Mann and Karl Sullivan, as well as Fijians Jerry Vakalutu, Aminiasi Tuidravatu and Usaia Masuwale, who had impressed in their opening two wins.
“We had an awful lot of possession, but fair play to Tamar Saracens for defending well,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“We just missed that go-forward ball, with the likes of Tom Worboys missing and Smithy (Dan Smith) going off, and we just couldn’t get over the line.
“But they defended well. Credit to them.
“Availability has been poor for us in our last two games, but we could have done with a win.
“I counted seven or eight handling errors when we were around their 22. We were trying to move the ball and get it out to our backs but there were a lot of errors.
“A lot of guys are frustrated with that result. There was plenty of good stuff in there, but we just couldn’t turn possession into points.
“We also picked up a lot of injuries. We had to go down to 14 about 20 minutes before the end and go to uncontested scrums which didn’t help things.
“But it is all down to availability. We were calling players in who have not played together, and I think that showed.”
Argaum might have been missing a cutting edge, but Tamar Saracens had that in number eight Ratu Racaca, who scored two tries in the opening 20 minutes, to add to the four he scored the previous week at Kingsbridge.
His first came from the back of a scrum in the seventh minute when he ran down the blindside before running in under the posts for an easy conversion for Lew Swatton.
Cheyenne Edwards hit the post with a penalty for Argaum before Racaca added his second. Sarries won the ball against the head at an Argaum scrum and Racaca showed great strength to hold off a couple of tackles to get the ball down over the line. Swatton again converted to put his side 14-0.
Argaum had loads of pressure after that, but Sarries defence somehow held them out.
And the home side went 21-0 up after less than three minutes of the second half when centre Chad Smith scored after good play from a line-out.
Argaum did finally break Sarries defence on 53 minutes when Adam Walker went over under the posts.
The visitors were given hope when Tamar Saracens picked up a yellow card in the 66th minute, but they themselves were down to 14 after they had run out of front-row cover.
And Argaum could not close the gap and in injury-time replacement Lewis Tucker added a bonus point try for Sarries.
Alex Chapman scored two first half tries on his comeback as Plymstock Oaks II beat Plympton Victoria 34-17 at Horsham Fields on Saturday.
Chapman has been a regular first team player for Oaks, but he hadn’t played a competitive match this term before Saturday.
Yet he took just two minutes to score against Plym Vic.
Jerome Davies quickly added another before Ollie Pile responded with one for the visitors.
Davies added a second to make it 17-7. Chris Barratt kicked a penalty for Plym Vic to make it a one score game again, before Chapman added his second to give Oaks II a 22-10 half-time lead.
Plym Vic cut that to five points after the interval with a try by Sid Bear, which Barratt converted.
But Oaks II pulled away late on with tries by Zak Gilbert and Sam Howard.
“We just let it slip away at the end,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“But again there were little improvements, and we played some good rugby. We fronted up, our scrum was good, as was our defence.”
There was disappointment for Old Techs, whose hopes of making it three wins in a row were ended at Salcombe, who edged them out 25-17 in a tight match at Twomeads.
Techs have found it hard to win at Salcombe in the past and they were once again on the end of a narrow reverse in the South Hams.
“It was a pretty tight game,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith. “But I think they probably deserved to win.
“I think they had five or six yellow cards compared to our one, but we didn’t capitalise.
“It was just another game that got away from us.
“It was another we could have won, but we just didn’t do enough to win it.
“We just made too many silly errors, so there’s no complaints.
“It’s nothing that can’t be fixed and there were plus points.
“It was just our mistakes that cost us, which was the disappointing thing.”
Techs had been 9-0 up with three Sam Matts penalties, but Salcombe took their chances to lead 13-12 at half-time.
It was nip-and-tuck in the second half, with Phil Flowers scoring a try for Techs.
The game was a one-score contest, but Salcombe kicked a late penalty to seal the win and deny Techs even a bonus point.
Saltash II were without a league game in Counties Three Cornwall, but they played a friendly against Devonport Services III, who won 34-0.
Ollie Mytton, Mark Jones, Delvin Skinner, Brandon Knight and Nathan Learmouth scored tries for Services III, who had Mytton kicking the rests of the points.
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