DEVONPORT Services have moved two points clear at the top of Regional One South West after they overcame fellow top four side Exmouth 21-10 at the Rectory on Saturday.
Services had to overcome a half-time deficit and a number of injuries to maintain their unbeaten home record.
And even though they didn’t pick up a try-scoring bonus point, they moved clear of Topsham, who drew 15-15 away at Lydney.
“We were down at half-time (10-7), but second half the boys dug in valiantly and we attacked well at times and scored a couple of tries,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“Exmouth are a good team. They are big up front and had our scrum in some problems.
“They are big and physical, and they will be in the fight come the end of the season.
“We now have to play them again next week in the Devon Cup.”
Services’ strength in depth was shown on Saturday as they were again missing front-rowers Aiden Taylor and Rikki Bentham and backs Harrison Coonick, Tom Davies and Dan Lilley.
They also then lost fly-half Sam Brown early in the game after he pulled his hamstring kicking a conversion and then winger Toby Knowles had to also go off injured.
“At this level they only give you three subs,” said Russell. “The lads put their bodies on the line, but they are not conditioned like professionals are as they are amateurs. They talk about health and well-being of players, but they are not looking after them by only allowing three subs on the bench.”
Services, who handed a debut to new signing Jesse Lowe, started well and after quite a lot of pressure they did take the lead when Tom Richards put lock Kyle Felton in to score. Brown did manage to kick the conversion but then limped off, with Richards filling in at fly-half.
The visitors picked up a couple of yellow cards in the first half, with Charlie Gibbings and George Meadows spending time in the bin, but they did pull level on 34 minutes when they broke from a scrum near the halfway line and Lewis Geran touched down.
Tom Cooke converted that try and he also added a penalty before half-time to give Exmouth a 10-7 lead at the break.
And that was how it stayed until the final quarter of the game, when Services finally got the breakthrough they were threatening when Richard West scored from the back of a maul. He also added the conversion to make it 14-10.
Charlie Groves then sealed the win with a fine individual try, which West converted.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
TOM SCOLES scored two tries on his return to Ivybridge’s first team as they continued their 100 per cent home record this season with a 57-31 victory over struggling Cullompton at Cross-in-Hand.
Scoles had not played a first team league match for the Bridgers since March 2024, but he showed he still knows how to score tries.
There were also touch-downs for Dan Gloyns, Harry Newman-Wild, Jamie Campbell, Seb Musgrave, Joe Owen and Charlie Teague.
Five of their tries came in the second period as they showed how they can attack.
“It was really good,” said head coach Steve Atkinson, who had wanted his team to show a reaction after their heavy defeat away at Penzance-Newlyn before a week off.
“In the first 10 or 15 minutes, I don’t know what it was, but we were almost trying too much and forcing our game, but once we settled we were brilliant for a good solid hour.
“They (Cullompton) did manage to get a bonus point, but I said to the lads afterwards that when I used to play if we scored 42 and the opposition scored 41, then I was always happy.
“It was a good performance, and I am happy that we finally got a nice big win at home.
“Hopefully, now we can go on and pick up an away win and really push on.”
Atkinson was particularly pleased with the performance of lock Seb Musgrave.
“Seb probably would have got man of the match,” he said. “I don’t know what his tackle count was, but it was really, really high.
“Marcus Prout’s tackle count was also really good. He’s obviously come back and was a bit rusty in attack, but defensively he was really good.
“Harry Newman-Wild at 10 was also really good. He was probably one of those who were trying to force it a bit too much in the first 10 minutes but once he settled, he was brilliant.”
Ivybridge do face a tough test next weekend when their first and second teams play Topsham in Devon cup competitions.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks took advantage of Saltash going down to 13 men in injury-time to claim a hard-earned 40-29 victory at Moorlands Lane on Saturday.
Oaks had been 15-5 up at half-time, but with 80 minutes on the clock they found themselves trailing 22-21 to Saltash, who looked like they were going to claim just their second win since their promotion after so many near misses.
But the referee decided there was eight minutes of injury-time to play and it all went wrong for Saltash in almost a blink of an eye.
They lost the ball on Oaks’ line as they pressed for another try and the visitors attacked quickly. Greg Eatwell got back to stop them, but he was yellow carded for not rolling away quickly enough.
Then just seconds later, Saltash had Axel Nicks red carded for an incident in a maul.
There had been little to choose between the teams up to that point in an entertaining contest, but Oaks just took massive advantage of having two extra players to throw it around and they ran in three late tries.
However, Saltash who had also suffered similar heartbreak against Newton Abbot, did dig deep and scored a try with the last play to at least claim a bonus point and keep up their record of picking up points in every match this season.
The Ashes have averaged two points a game from their opening six matches, but still somehow find themselves bottom of the table, although they are just four points off fifth spot.
Oaks’ win has moved them up to seventh in the standings in a league where there is hardly any difference in any of the 12 sides.
Wiveliscombe are the new leaders, but Saltash would have beaten them last month had they not missed a late kick in a 36-35 defeat.
Both coaching teams admitted Saturday’s match had been an emotional rollercoaster.
“If I had any hair, I would have lost it,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis.
“For 70 minutes you would not have known which way it was going to go.
“There were certain points of the game where we ascended above them, but then they got themselves back above us.
“It was the sort of game we thought it would be.”
He added: “It was a huge win.
“They were one point ahead and we got a penalty and kicked for the corner but then gave away a penalty ourselves. At that point I was thinking that maybe we had messed it up as the clock had already gone to 80, but the ref then said there were still eight minutes left and then I felt we had it then as we had the impetus.
“It was a weird old affair, but I was so happy for the boys as we needed that.
“Saltash are a good side. They are resilient and defend really well and you can see from their results this season why they don’t lose by very much. They really do stick in it right to the end.
“We knew we were in for a really tough affair and I’m glad we got those last couple of tries.
“It just didn’t quite click this week. We just weren’t quite deep enough at times.
“But at the end, when it was needed, we made the right calls and got into the right positions and just put people through a gap.
“I hope that ending there is the catalyst for the rest of the season, and we say look what we can do even when we were under that kind of pressure after they went one point up.”
Saltash’s director of rugby Steve Down could not hide his disappointment at losing another tight game at the death.
“We are still picking up points, but just not getting the wins,” said Down. “It is very frustrating.
“I thought five or 10 minutes before we scored (to go one point in front) we were starting to get some momentum. The lads sort of gelled a bit better and we were starting to get some territory, and I thought we might just do it, but the cards killed it.
“I think the lads will be most frustrated with this one as they know we didn’t play as well as we can play.
“In all the other games we have put periods together and there have been spells where we have been quite pleased with our rugby, but this week there was quite a lot of frustration around the camp.
“However, I was pleased they did get that try at the end and hopefully they are proud of themselves for getting that point, but I know overall they won’t be happy.”
Saltash’s start to life in Westen West has not been helped with injuries and unavailablilities.
On Saturday, they were missing Cornwall player Ryan Cruickshanks, who broke and dislocated his ankle against Paignton, Fin Jones, who has broken and dislocated his wrist, Phil Eatwell, who has fluid on his knee, Danny Snook, who is out with illness, and Devon Bennett-Murry and Ryan Rayner, who are unavailable at the moment.
“They are significant names,” admitted Down. “But we are not doing too badly without them.
“I’m proud of who we have got, and we have got some good young lads coming through.
“We probably just need to dial in on what is not quite clicking and work on them, but ultimately, I think we will be all right.”
Both Saltash and Oaks showed good defence and handling on Saturday. There were very few knock-ons and both teams constantly tried to get the ball to their exciting backs.
Oaks did open the scoring with a penalty by Lewis Paterson on six minutes.
But Saltash scored the game’s first try when prop Liall Honey went over in the left corner after some fine passing across the line.
However, their lead did not last too long as in the 24th minute, scrum-half Harry Toghill scored following a line-out after Saltash had been penalised for being offside as they kicked from their half.
And four minutes later, Oaks scored a stunning second try from their own line.
After Saltash’s experienced centre Todd Crofts was penalised for what the referee deemed a double movement attacking Plymstock’s line, the visitors tapped the penalty and quickly got the ball left. Full-back Alex Chapman broke quickly and he drew Will Morton to him before off-loading to Will Scantlebury, who ran in from the halfway line to score. Paterson added the conversion to make it 15-5.
Saltash then really pressed after that and Oaks had Scantlebury yellow carded, but their numerical advantage lasted less than a minute as the Ashes had Lewis Wells sin-binned for complaining about a refereeing decision just seconds after he had been held up over the line.
The home side did get a penalty just before the interval, but Jack Pritchard missed with the kick.
After the break, Paterson put Oaks 18-5 in front with a penalty, but five minutes later, Saltash pulled the game to within a score with a try on the right by Morton after some good passing from a line-out.
Oaks were then held up over the line, and Paterson missed a penalty as the game hung in the balance.
In the 66th minute, Pritchard cut the gap to just three points with a penalty, but straight from the re-start Saltash were penalised and Paterson kicked three points to restore his side’s six-point advantage.
After that Saltash, who had struggled a bit with their line-outs all afternoon, had a really good spell and it was no surprise when they did score a try courtesy of Crofts. Pritchard added the conversion to put the Ashes 22-21 in front.
But within two minutes it all went wrong for them with the cards to Eatwell and Nicks, and Oaks scored three tries in five extra-time minutes.
Ryan Wills scored what most people thought would be the winning try three minutes into added-on time.
But that was quickly followed by another by scrum-half Toghill and then a fine one by the dangerous Chapman.
Even though Chapman’s try came in the eighth minute of injury-time, the referee decided there was still time for one more play and eventually it ended with replacement Scott Williams scoring a bonus point try for Saltash.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
TAVISTOCK came from 10-0 down at half-time to beat Plymouth Combination rivals OPMs 19-15 in a tight match at Sandy Park.
It was the first league meeting between the clubs in 16-and-a-half years and it did go down to the wire.
A Kallan Malone try and a conversion and penalty from the impressive Fred Smale put OPMs 10-0 ahead, but Tavistock upped their performance after the interval and out-scored their visitors three tries to one in the second 40 minutes.
Ollie Plummer scored two tries for the hosts, with veteran Andrew Schuttkacker also touching down for them, while Will Varley scored OPMs’ only second-half try.
“They were 10-0 up at half-time,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock, who once held the same role at OPMs.
“We have to address that we regularly start very slow.
“But I love the fact the guys aren’t satisfied with a poor half, and they did address it at half-time.
“I think we are a team maturing.”
He added: “It was a well battled game.
“We were really pleased with the performances of flanker Andrew Schuttkacker and fly-half Chris Watts. They were our joint man of the match.
“But equally we were pleased to see the likes of Josh O’Neill coming back. He had to move up to start and ended up giving an assist for one of our tries. He was fantastic considering it was his first game back in a few years. He was awesome in the scrum.
“Harry Ball also made his first team return after his broken jaw against Launceston in pre-season. It was a big moment for him.
“We were really pleased, especially as we had a lot of players out with injuries.
“But I thought Freddie Smale and their number eight were both fantastic for them (OPMs).”
Puttock admitted it was a bit nail-biting.
“When they have a kicker like Freddie Smale you are worried about giving away a silly penalty. A lot of the players struggled to understand how the referee was refereeing, so when we scored the try we were quite happy.”
OPMs head coach James Digweed said: “We were 10-0 up at half-time and we didn’t look like losing.
“But we had a few injuries and just let it slip. It was similar to the South Molton game.
“It is a bit of the same old story – best 60-minute team in the league and then just fitness lets us down. It was very disappointing.”
The win means Tavistock are in seventh spot and OPMs dropped down to ninth.
Devonport Services II are the new leaders after they beat previously unbeaten Topsham II 32-22 away on Saturday.
Services II did travel to Bonfire Field with a much-changed team to the one that put 90 points on Sidmouth II the previous week, due to injuries in the first team and unavailabilities.
But they have got such depth that they can make so many changes and still win.
They went 14-0 up thanks to tries by Sam Fincham and Aaron Duffield, which were both converted by Leighton Stark.
Topsham II did pull a try back before Stark kicked a penalty to make it 17-5.
The home side scored another try and Stark another penalty before Fin White touched down for Services to put them 25-10 in front.
Topsham did pull that back to 25-22, but a try from colt Elliott Pocknell, converted by Stark, secured Services II the bonus-point win.
Ivybridge II secured their first league victory of the season with a narrow 20-17 away success at fellow strugglers Dartmouth.
It followed on from beating Crediton II last weekend in a Devon 2nd XV cup game.
“I’m really happy with that,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson.
“That’s two wins in a row. Hopefully, it has clicked a little bit.
“When we do get some injured players back, hopefully, we can really press on.”
COUNTIES THREE
OLD Techs really gave unbeaten leaders Brixham II a run for their money at Weston Mill on Saturday, but they could not quite pull off another memorable win against them in Devon South & West.
Techs, who had dented Brixham II’s title hopes last season with a narrow victory at Astley Park, were beaten 33-20 by the Fishermen on Saturday, but it was a hard-fought encounter.
Brixham II have been running away with games this season, beating Torquay Athletic II 92-0, Paignton II 55-0 and Plymouth Argaum 48-7.
But despite arriving with a team that included Devon front-rower and former Ivybridge star Henry Trudgill and Scott Puleston in their line-up, they didn’t have it their own way at Weston Mill.
However, frustratingly for Techs their efforts went unrewarded as they narrowly missed out on both a try-scoring bonus point and a losing one.
They did score three tries courtesy of Billy Evans, James Bothma and Ollie Davey, with Sam Matts kicking a penalty and a conversion.
But they will have taken positives from their performance and know they have played all the top teams now.
Fellow city sides Plympton Victoria and Tamar Saracens also suffered losses on Saturday.
Plym Vic, who are still waiting for their first win of the season, were beaten 58-15 by Salcombe.
Chris Barratt and Jimmy Ball scored tries for Plym Vic, with Barratt also adding a conversion and a penalty.
“Sometimes we were our own worst enemy,” said chairman Chris Hunt, who stepped on to the bench again due to unavailabilities. “We just gifted too much possession to them and gave them too much space.
“But when we played our systems, it worked quite well and we managed to score some points, but it was too little.
“We are still seeing improvements in play, but we are just not doing it often enough to build a victory.”
Tamar Saracens were unable to surprise second-placed Paignton II, going down 36-12 at Queen’s Park.
Sarries travelled with a makeshift team due to unavailabilties but did battle hard in South Devon against a Paignton II’s team who have only lost once this season.
Isaac Blasdale and Ed Cox scored tries for Sarries, with Lew Swatton, captaining the team in the absence of regular skipper Adam Corbett, adding a conversion.
Plymstock Oaks II were handed a walkover by Kingsbridge II, but did play a friendly match against Devonport Services III, who triumphed 50-17.
Back-rower Taine Morgan, who has had spells at Plymouth Albion, Ivybridge, Aberavon, Swansea and Neath in the past two years, scored three tries for Services III’s, while former Oaks player Al Thomas also touched down, as did Nathan Todd, Oli Mytton, Harry Loughnane and Brad Lumley, with Rohan Johnson kicking five conversions.
Plymouth Argaum were without a match in Devon South & West, while in Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II were beaten 34-25 away at Lankelly-Fowey, having led 25-13 at the break.
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