DEVONPORT Services produced a sensational first-half display as they saw off Cornish rivals Launceston 57-27 at the Rectory on Saturday in Regional One South West.
The league leaders, dominating the scrums and breakdowns, scored six tries in the opening 40 minutes to lead 43-8 at the break.
Both teams made changes for the second half and Services did lose their momentum, but they still added two more tries.
Launceston were a lot better after the interval and managed to at least take a try-scoring bonus point back to Polson Bridge.
“In the first half, after the first 10 minutes, we were brilliant,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“We just played simple rugby really well, and scored some lovely team tries.
“At half-time, I asked the lads to put the foot on the throat and to keep on playing the way we had been, but we didn’t; we just stopped and allowed them to come back into it.
“Our discipline wasn’t very good second half, which allowed them to use their main weapon – the driving maul.
“That was the only disappointing thing, when we are so far in front at half-time and playing some brilliant rugby, that we have taken our foot of the gas.
“But credit to Launceston, they didn’t give up, and they fought hard to get a bonus point.”
Russell added: “We took off Harrison (Coonick), Gregs (Matt Gregory) and Oli (Symons) and they are three boys who are pillars of the team and work really hard.
“But everyone got a chance, and it was cracking that Josh Martin got on this week. He has done really well in the twos and deserved his shot.
“We were looking at these four games before Christmas and we have now won the first and got five points. That was the target, and we just have to keep winning and see where we are at Christmas.”
Services took an early lead with a penalty from fit-again fly-half Sam Brown after Launceston had been penalised at the first scrum of the day.
But Launceston, who started quite well, scored the game’s first try when number eight Brandon Rowley went over after good play by centre Cam Fogden.
However, straight away it was clear that Services had the advantage in the scrum and their first try came from one. They got the push on at the set-play and, with the referee playing advantage, Devonport produced a great move with Richard West and Billy Orchard linking up with Brown, who ran in under the posts to touch down. He also added the conversion.
Launceston did cut the gap from the restart with a penalty from James Tucker, but after that the half belonged to Services, who were deadly at running back kicks from the visitors and also kept turning their opponents over at the breakdown.
James Hocking, who was playing at eight on Saturday with Mike Rickard missing, scored Devonport’s second try after great runs by Matt Gregory and Tom Richards.
Prop Oli Symons then got their third after a gap opened up after pressure from a line-out move. Both those tries were converted by Brown.
And it got worse for Launceston when Coonick scored with a long-range interception try in the 28th minute to secure the try-scoring bonus point for Services.
Full-back Orchard scored the home side’s next score after Services ran back a Launceston kick really well.
And just before the break, Coonick added a second down the left after centre Dan Lilley had done well.
At that point, many people in the ground were probably thinking Services could go on and score 70 or 80 points, but, fair play to Launceston, they changed things around, including moving George Hillson to fly-half, and kept hold of the ball better.
However, Services did increase their lead to 50-8 initially after the interval with a fine try by Bertie Fordham, which was made by a great break by Hocking.
But two tries in six minutes gave Launceston hopes of a bonus point. Number eight Rowley bagged his second from close range before winger Billy Martin scored in the corner after pressure from a line-out.
Services did get an eighth try in fortunate circumstances when the visitors tried to keep in a kick for the corner only to pat the ball into the path of Charlie Groves, who happily picked up and dived over the line. Brown, kept up his good day with the boot, with his seventh conversion.
Devonport were attacking and looking for another try late on when the game had to be stopped after a young child somehow wondered on to the field where the action was happening.
And in the last minute, Launceston got the bonus point they had been targeting when replacement George Bone scored from close range.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
YOUNG scrum-half James Cantin scored a hat-trick of tries as Ivybridge maintained their 100 per cent home record with an impressive 45-7 victory over Wadebridge Camels at Cross-in-Hand on Saturday.
Ivybridge were only 19-7 ahead at the break, but they really pulled away in the second half to overtake their Cornish opponents in the table.
The win has lifted the Bridgers back up to fifth in the standings and they are level on points with fourth-placed Okehampton.
“It was a great game for us,” said Ivybridge’s head coach Steve Atkinson.
“The lads were really patient in their attack for the first 15 minutes and then the floodgates opened.
“It was 0-0 for about 15 minutes but we were in their half the whole time. There was some good defence from them to be fair, but then we managed to make some early adjustments and then it was all us.
“We scored two quick tries and then they managed to get into our 22 for their only real attack of the game to score, but, other than that, it was all us.
“I was really pleased with how the young lads managed the intensity in defence because there was some good bits of attack from them, but they just couldn’t get through.
“Stand-out players were James Cantin at nine, who bagged a hat-trick off the back of some great rugby; James Campbell out on the wing, who defended really well when they came down his channel and then gave us really good go-forward ball in attack, and Joe Owen at number eight, who had another great game. All are 18 or 19 year-olds.”
Cantin got Ivybridge’s first try on 20 minutes, before Charlie Teague and Campbell added further scores before half-time, with Harry Newman-Wild adding two conversions.
After the interval, Cantin bagged his hat-trick with Teague getting a second and Owen Garner also crossing the whitewash, with Newman-Wild adding three more conversions.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
SALTASH once again suffered late heartbreak as they were beaten 21-19 at home by Barnstaple II on Saturday in Western West.
The Ashes have only won one game since they were promoted as Counties Two Cornwall champions, but every one of the seven matches they have lost has been decided in the final few minutes.
They have picked up six losing bonus points and have another four bonus points for scoring four tries or more.
Although they are still bottom of the table, those bonus points are keeping them in touch with all the teams above them and they will know if they can just turn some of them into wins in the second half of the season they will move up the table, just like Torquay have done after winning two in a row and moving from the bottom three up to sixth.
It did look like they might finally come out on the right side of a tight game on Saturday as they led 19-14 going into the closing minutes, but a quickly-taken line-out allowed Barnstaple to score a try at the death and they also added the conversion to seal the win.
The club described the latest heartbreaking loss as both ‘very frustrating’ and ‘disappointing’.
The Ashes, still unable to call on some key members of last season’s squad, were not helped by losing captain James Moriarty in the warm-up. His injury did mean a debut for winger Dylan Davies.
The opening exchanges were even but it was Saltash that took the lead after eight minutes when scrum-half Jack Pritchard, who had a very sound afternoon, kicked a penalty.
Barnstaple came back strongly but good covering by the Ashes kept them out until a break down the left wing enabled the strong running visitors to cross the home line courtesy of Euan Kent and the conversion from Harrison Greenslade was successful.
Saltash tried hard to overcome the Barnstaple defence which held firm, but the visiting lead was reduced to a single point after Pritchard put over a second penalty.
There was some sustained Barnstaple pressure just before the interval but the Ashes held their line with good covering and tackling and they changed ends just 7-6 down.
On a wet pitch with a slippery ball Saltash got off to a good restart and following a smart interchange Greg Eatwell touched down close to the posts after 46 minutes to take the lead with Pritchard adding the extra points.
Play continued to be keenly contested and Barnstaple regained the advantage on the hour when following a penalty and scrum they got over the Ashes line with a converted try from Max Moore to make it 14-13.
Two more penalties by Pritchard in the 65th and 75th minutes looked to have secured a welcome overdue Ashes victory, but a lapse in concentration in the final embers of the game and a quick line-out taken close to the home line allowed Barnstaple’s Josh Davie to score a try to equalise and Greenslade put over the conversion to give his side the victory.
There was also more disappointment for Plymstock Oaks, who were beaten 38-12 away at Kingsbridge on Saturday.
Oaks paid for a poor opening 30 minutes where Kingsbridge scored four unanswered tries to take a 26-0 lead.
Duncan Bibby pulled one back for Oaks before half-time. The second half was pretty even, but Oaks could only add one further try courtesy of hooker Joe Donnelly, which player-coach Lewis Paterson converted.
Oaks’ defeat at High House on Saturday followed on from a 46-12 home loss to St Ives the previous week and leaves them sitting ninth in the table, just two points above bottom side Saltash.
Coach Mike Lewis said: “Our preparation was really good and the warm-up was cracking, but once we got into the game we were maybe just a bit lazy in the first half in terms of our defensive shape – we didn’t run into the space early enough which created overlaps for them and they did really well to play around us.
“They took full advantage of that early on and they were on top of us in the scrums and had the early advantage at maul time. But we came back into it second half.”
He added: “It’s not an ability thing, it’s a confidence/mind-set issue we have at the moment.
“We have conceded points all season, but we have been scoring them as well, but at the moment we are just not quite scoring them.
“We just need to believe in ourselves a bit more and our systems.
“We probably didn’t deserve a lot this weekend, but we were resilient and really tried, but every time we tried a quick tap and go, we’d drop the ball or something like that or didn’t push around in ‘D’.
“It is all really simple stuff, which we were grasping a couple of weeks ago, but we maybe got a bit complacent and we just need to improve on a few small things.
“They (Kingsbridge) had a really good 20-25 minutes and it put us really under the cosh and it took us a while to get back into the game.
“And it was just too far gone by the time we did get back into it and we made just too many silly errors.”
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
DEVONPORT Services II lost their lead at the top of Counties Two Devon after having to settle for a 17-17 draw with fellow high-fliers Bideford at Stonehouse Creek on Saturday.
A much-changed Services second string did show plenty of character to come back from 12-0 down and they snatched a draw thanks to a late Leighton Stark penalty.
Bideford did score two tries in the opening 15 minutes and were looking strong.
But Services’ unfamiliar line-up gradually settled, and they pulled it back to 12-7 with a fine try and conversion from Stark.
Bideford, though, responded to take a 17-7 lead with a third try on a heavy pitch.
Services did cut the gap to 17-14 just before the break when forward Matt Scott cross the whitewash and Stark added the conversion.
Chances were few and far between in the second half, but with time almost up, Services got a penalty and Stark stepped up to kick and secure his side a share of the points.
There was disappointment for the region’s other sides in the division, with OPMs, Tavistock and Ivybridge II all losing.
After their stunning win over Exeter Saracens last weekend, OPMs were beaten 19-3 away at Honiton.
OPMs, who impressed in the scrum, were not helped by losing two players due to head injuries in the first half, as they trailed 5-0, with James Coutts-Tucker scoring the home side’s only try in the opening 40 minutes.
The visitors reduced the gap to 5-3 with a Fred Smale penalty, but that turned out to be as good as it got for them at Allhallows as they suffered more injuries and full-back Coutts-Tucker scored a second try for the hosts and Finn Parratt added their third.
OPMs head coach James Digweed said: “We were coming off a really big high after our win against Exeter Saracens last weekend and selection was difficult with multiple players being disappointed to miss out on Thursday evening.
“Unfortunately, as is often the case with rugby, we had quite a few players drop out last minute for varied reasons and we ended up with five or six of our twos players having to fill in.
“I don’t think we actually knew the starting 15 until about two hours before kick-off, which was frustrating.
“The boys showed great tenacity in the first half and it ended 5-3.
“I am a massive believer that you shouldn’t blame the ref for results, but, in my opinion, it was the worst bit of refereeing I’ve seen.”
Digweed was particularly upset at how some of his players were injured, with two getting knocked out and another having to come off with an eye injury.
“On a positive note, the boys stuck at it and the result flattered them,” said Digweed.
“I am eager to see them for the return fixture and show them what we can do with our full team available.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of the boys.”
Tavistock were also understrength as they headed to title-chasing Topsham II, who beat them 62-17 at Bonfire Field.
Tavistock did manage three tries courtesy of two from Ollie Plummer and one from Vaughan Glover, but they just could not get a fourth to at least return with a bonus point.
“It is what it is,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock. “We said it would be hard.
“They (Topsham) are a fit young team and a lot of their tries were breakaway ones from their own half, purely because we were trying to play rugby but we made little mistakes like knock-ons.
“The last 20 minutes we were battling away trying to get a bonus point, but we didn’t get it.”
He added: “We’ve got three away games in a row and that is tough. All I can say is that I’m incredibly proud of the players who turned up and put the effort in so we didn’t lose five points.
“At the end of the day, they are doing the club proud.
“We know the players we’ve got, and we know that the best team we can put out is a hell of a side, but it’s just getting them all on the pitch.
“But we’ll take the positives from the game.
“The tries we did get were well worked.
“Their inside centre was extremely good and was their focal point, but personally I thought our number eight Vaughan Glover was the best player on the field. He was outstanding.
“Harry Ball had he first full game at loose-head prop and never took a backwards step in the scrum and chased people down all day long.
“We’ll take the positives from things like that.”
Ivybridge II could not make it three league wins in a row as they went down 57-24 away at Exeter Saracens. However, the Bridgers’ second string did pick up a bonus point.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
YET again, a Rob Hall penalty secured Tamar Saracens a narrow derby win over their big rivals Old Techs.
Sarries edged out their neighbours 29-26 at Weston Mill on Saturday, with Hall’s late penalty deciding the match.
He had also kicked a late penalty in the last meeting between the sides which Sarries won 11-10.
Techs, no matter how close they come, have just not been able to beat their rivals in the A38 derby since 2012.
Sarries have now beaten both Techs and Plymouth Argaum this season.
“We’re very happy,” said Tamar Saracens captain Adam Corbett after the match.
“It was a tough, old game, as it always is against them.
“It was nice to get the win. We had players playing out of position, but everyone stepped up and we did well.
“We have not lost to Techs for 13 years and it was nice to carry on that streak.”
Isaac Blasdale, Jacob Blasdale, Reiss Boon and Alex Isreal scored Saracens’ tries, with Hall adding the two conversions and the late penalty.
Sarries had been 26-12 up at one point, but Techs pulled level, only to see their hopes dashed with Hall’s late penalty.
It was another match that could have gone either way, with just small margins deciding it. Sarries had a conversion given which Techs didn’t think had gone over, while Sam Matts slipped while kicking one for Techs, which missed.
“It was a good game of rugby,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith.
“We dominated the scrums, but their backs were just a bit slicker.
“It is a bit disappointing, but it’s the way it goes. Last week we won with the last kick of the game, but this time we lose to a kick with two or three minutes to go.
“Last week it was our day, but this week it wasn’t.
“It was one of those, where there was no bad feeling about it as it’s just the way it goes sometimes.
“It’s just annoying that we keep losing to them by one or three points or whatever it is.
“I am gutted, but, fair play to them, they stuck at it.
“We are massive rivals on the pitch, but off the pitch we get on.
“I just thought we had half-an-hour in the first half when we were quite lacklustre. It’s almost like we have to be behind for us to go, ‘come on then, we’ll have a go now as we have nothing to lose’.”
Techs did pick up two points from the game as they scored four tries and finished within a score of their opponents.
Billy Evans scored a hat-trick of tries for Techs, with Lewis Harvey adding their other, and Matts kicking three conversions – only missing the one where he slipped.
Plymouth Argaum won the other derby match on Saturday, beating Plymstock Oaks II 31-5 at Horsham Fields.
“Jasper Stevens, Reece Boase, Adam Walker, Jake Turfrey and Mike Dutton scored tries for a much-changed Argaum team, with Cheyenne Edwards kicking three conversions.
“Oaks did have a bit of ball and had some big carriers, but our backs were too strong,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“It was Tom Mann’s wedding so we were missing a lot of people, including Dan Smith, Tom Worboys and Will Lloyd, so we were short up front.
“But it was nice to see some backs sticking their heads in the scrum. They probably learned a lot from that.
“It was a good win, but we are not getting carried away as there are still areas we need to improve.”
Plympton Victoria’s wait for a win continues after they were beaten 29-0 at home by much-improved Totnes.
“Totnes played well and ran in five tries, but we were our own worst enemy at times,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“Our line-out didn’t function too well so we lost a lot of primary possession there.
“We did make a couple of good breaks, but it’s just getting that last pass to break the defence.
“But it’s not all doom and gloom. Believe it or not, we were quite firm in defence.
“What didn’t help us was having two of our starting team getting injured in the first five minutes of the game and they had to be replaced. One bloke popped his calf and another his knee. We got to the point, which doesn’t happen very often, where we ran out of interchanges because of the injuries.
“Our scrum was quite good, but we just couldn’t quite link up enough to get over the whitewash unfortunately.”
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