DEVONPORT Services once again produced another strong second half display as they beat ninth-placed Royal Wootton Bassett 52-24 at Keyham on Saturday.
The five-point win keeps them at the top of the Regional One South West table, two points ahead of Topsham, who overcame Marlborough 61-10 at home.
Services took a bit of time to get going on the artificial pitch after the match had to be switched from the out-of-bounds Rectory.
The sides changed ends level at 17-17, but after the break Services ran away with the contest and finished with eight tries.
“To be fair, they (Royal Wootton Bassett) got off the bus well and ran hard,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“We did some lovely stuff but didn’t front up at times and they got a couple of line breaks and off-loads to score tries.
“The tries they scored, they didn’t tear us apart, it was just maybe a bit of a soft tackle and then an offload.”
He added: “We played well in periods and did some lovely stuff, but at times we weren’t as good as we could be.
“But it’s been a long slog to Christmas, yet the boys have been doing well and we just have one game to go next week now before the break.”
The visitors scored first, but Services hit back with an unconverted try from hooker Liam Jarvis.
But Royal Wootton Bassett scored another converted try and a penalty to go 17-5 ahead.
Devonport, though, hit back in the final 10 minutes of the half to draw level with a catch-and-drive try from prop Oli Symons and then one from fly-half Sam Brown.
The home side got the start to the second period that they wanted with Billy Orchard scoring a fine try after good play by Dan Lilley and Brown.
They then quickly added a fifth try from a scrum move with Charlie Groves going over on the wing and Brown converting.
It got better for Services in the 53rd minute when Shaun Crawford scored after breaking and then putting a chip kick over and collecting to touch down. Brown again converted.
Devonport then probably scored the try of the afternoon started by a great break by Matt Gregory before some good off-loading created the chance for James Hocking to score and Brown added the extras.
Royal Wotton Bassett got their third try after that, but Harrison Coonick then added Services eighth after a good break by Hocking.
The visitors did throw everything at Devonport in the dying minutes trying to secure a try-scoring bonus point. The home side had Crawford and Brown sin-binned, but they still managed to deny their Wiltshire opponents a point.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE continued their impressive home record with a 34-17 victory over North Petherton at Cross-in-Hand.
The Bridgers still have a 100 per cent record at home this season and they are now into the second half of the campaign.
The win keeps Ivybridge in fifth place, but they do have a game in hand – against winless Wellington – on Tiverton and Okehampton, who sit second and third.
“I’m really happy with that,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson on Saturday’s win against a side who had beaten them 37-32 away at the start of the season.
“We had a very good 20-25 minutes and went three tries up, but we probably had 35-40 minutes either side of half-time where I didn’t know what we were doing.
“We really needed to go back to basics at that point, but because we were three tries up I think we just wanted that fourth try too quickly and tried to force things.
“We also had a high penalty count as well, which was really surprising as we have been really good this year with our discipline in defence.
“But the last 10 minutes were really, really good, especially in defence. I was really impressed with the boys then. We put double shots in and just didn’t let them get any yardage.”
Ivybridge got their first try almost straight from kick-off with Jamie Campbell touching down and Harry Newman-Wild adding the conversion.
And by the 20-minute mark, the home side were 21-0 up with George Vertessy and Owen Garner scoring quick-fire tries which were both converted by Newman-Wild.
Newman-Wild then kicked a penalty as the Bridgers took a 24-0 lead into the break.
North Petherton hit back after the interval with two unconverted touch-downs, but Ivybridge eventually got the fourth try they were looking for in the 63rd minute when Garner crossed for his second of the match.
The Somerset visitors did get a third score, but Ivybridge had the final word with Charlie Teague going over the whitewash.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
IT CANNOT be easy being a Saltash supporter at the moment as nearly every match they play goes nervously right down to the wire, only for them to come out on the wrong side of the scoreline.
Their latest heart-breaking loss came at home on Saturday to Truro, who eventually won an entertaining and thrilling contest 35-29.
Saltash did have more than enough chances to win the game, including right at the death, but they just were not quite clinical enough.
Both teams did score five tries apiece, but, crucially, Truro converted all theirs.
The Ashes could have probably scored out-wide at the end but as they knew they needed the conversion to win they tried to come in field and knocked the ball on close to the line.
In the end they had to settle for two more bonus points – they have got 12 from 10 games – which has seen them close to within a point of Plymstock Oaks, but they do remain bottom of the table.
Saltash coach Lewis Wells admitted it was tough to take, especially as they had totally dominated the opening quarter of the match on a very muddy pitch, but he remains confident they will be okay.
“We’ve missed out by either one try or one point all season,” he said. “It does show that we are in the fight, but we just keep losing by silly little margins.
“Things we did last season wouldn’t have cost us anything, but now we get penalised for any little errors.
“Some of our players have only ever played senior rugby at the league below, so this is a step up and it is a learning curve.
“But we’ll keep going and building and I anticipate we will be absolutely fine.”
He added: “The conditions were tricky and that bottom side of the pitch is very boggy which made for some handling errors, and we did leave one or two tries out there.
“But we are still confident. We still have a lot of the teams that we just lost out to by odd points still to come here and we are not even halfway through the season, so it’s still all to play for.”
For any neutral, Saturday’s game at Moorlands Lane was a great contest to watch between two sides really desperate for the win.
Referee Paul Ansell, making his level seven debut, also allowed the match to flow, which added to the spectacle, but the nerves of both sets of coaches and supporters must have been frayed by the end as the fixture was right in the balance until the very last second.
Not once during the game did either team manage to get more than one score in front.
Saltash totally dominated the opening 20 minutes, and Truro just could not get out of their half.
The home side wasted three really good chances to score before they did take the lead in the 12th minute with a touch-down by Lewis Woolaway in the left corner.
They did think they had scored another three minutes later but it was ruled out for a knock-on.
And Truro scored on their first foray into Saltash’s half after a couple of penalties got them up to the line.
But Saltash quickly replied to regain their lead with a try on the left by prop Liall Honey, which Jack Pritchard converted.
The new Moorlands pitch did cut up badly and there was also no grass in the in-goal area on one side after some construction vehicles had driven over it to get to the neighbouring football pitch, which is rumoured to be earmarked for a supermarket.
Truro did go back in front on 34 minutes with a fine try by winger Sam Blake, but Saltash changed ends 19-14 ahead after lock Woolaway scored his second of the afternoon after a great run through the middle by Phil Eatwell.
The end-to-end nature of the game continued in the second half with Truro scoring after less than two minutes of the restart with a fine converted try by Luke Tidball.
Saltash instantly responded after some substantial pressure, Will Morton finally scored in the right corner to put his side 24-21 in front.
The Ashes then crucially just missed touch with a penalty kick to the corner and play went back to near the halfway line and Truro pressed. After a couple of minutes camped on Saltash’s line, Truro scored from a tap penalty to go 28-24 ahead.
But play then went back to the other end and Truro picked up a yellow card trying to keep Saltash out. The home side thought they had made the extra man tell when Morton went over again in the right corner but that try was ruled out for a forward pass.
However, the hosts did get the try they were threatening when captain Jay Moriarty crossed on the right with 10 minutes to go to put them one point in front.
Saltash probably hoped that might be enough, but Truro again responded. They did get awarded a penalty in front of the posts and most people thought they would kick it and go back in front, but they didn’t they tapped it and the gamble paid off as they scored and Anderson added the conversion to put them six points in front.
It meant Saltash needed a converted try. They threw everything at it and maybe they thought luck might be on their side when Truro failed to find touch with a penalty that probably would have brought an end to the game. Saltash ran the kick back and tried everything to get over the line.
The final play lasted about four minutes and Truro did give away a couple of penalties as Saltash lay siege to their line, but the home team just tried too hard to try and score close to the posts and eventually knocked on the muddy ball.
Plymstock Oaks dropped to second from bottom after they lost 55-17 away at second-placed Paignton.
Oaks are now just a point above Saltash and have lost their last four league games.
“The score doesn’t suggest how well we played,” said coach Mike Lewis afterwards. “We did actually play quite well at times and put them under a lot of pressure.
“We scored some points but probably should have scored a few more.
“However, we just played into their hands a little bit. They had a good back three who ran the ball really well and we just kicked it too often to them.”
He added: “The game was probably on a knife edge for the first 50 minutes but then they scored a couple of quick tries and that put us on the back foot.
“We kept trying but we just don’t seem to have the confidence in our ability at the moment. Clearly, Paignton do and that’s why they are the top of the table.
“Our players just need to believe how good they are. They might be a bit young and naïve at times, but they are really good players and we should be competing with these type of teams.”
Oaks were 10-5 up after 20 minutes with two maul tries from front-rower Joe Donnelly.
But Paignton came back and took a 22-10 half-time lead and then pulled totally away in the second period.
Kieran Jamieson did score a third try for Oaks, but they weren’t able to get a fourth to at least return with a point.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
TOM West kicked a last-gasp penalty as leaders Devonport Services II edged out much-improved Withycombe 43-40 at Raleigh Park on Saturday.
The victory has moved Services II four points clear at the top with Topsham II losing to Honiton at the weekend and Bideford missing out on a bonus point against Tavistock.
Devonport did have a much-changed team out due to unavailabilities and they handed debuts to Henry Gascoyne and former Ivybridge player Reece de Jersey, who has been playing back in Guernsey.
The match was tight all the way through and at half-time the score was 19-19.
Sam Fincham scored twice in the first half for Services II, who also had Ethan Hilland crossing the whitewash, while Jayden Gore, Liam Daniels and Joe Oates touched down for Withycombe.
James McFarlane gave Services II the lead after the interval with a try, but then the home side went 40-26 up with scores by Archie Symons, Cooper Love and Tom Parker.
But the Devonport side dug deep and two tries by Tom Richards brought them level before Tom West’s late penalty kick secured them the victory.
OPMs have moved up to seventh in the table after they edged out neighbours Ivybridge II 24-19 at King George V Playing Fields.
The Old Boys took an early lead with a try by captain Fred Smale.
But the visitors, handing a debut to Sid Bear, who they have recently signed from Plympton Victoria, hit back with two quick tries to go 12-5 ahead.
However, in the final 10 minutes of the first half, OPMs, who had drawn 34-34 with Withycombe the week before, showed what they can do with tries by Kal Malone and Zac Mussa to take a 17-12 lead at the break.
After the interval they added a fourth try when Fred Smale caught a clever kick by Pete Regan before beating the full-back for his second of the match.
The home side did have another effort ruled out by the referee.
And second-from-bottom Ivybridge did snatch a valuable losing bonus point with the last play of the game.
“We managed to dog it out and get the five points,” said OPMs captain Fred Smale.
“The second half was very back-and-forth and there was a lot of kicking, trying to rely on the other team making a mistake to get territory up the pitch.”
Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock has told his team that they should take confidence from their narrow 11-10 home loss to title-chasing Bideford on Saturday.
The Moorlanders could not end their losing run, which now stands at four games, but they more than matched Bideford on the day.
Captain Freddie Fuller scored all their points, including a late try.
“We played very well,” said Puttock.
“We came out of the blocks well, which was lovely, as so often we have been the slowest team out of the blocks.
“We controlled the first half pretty much and there is no reason why the boys should not come off buzzing with confidence. That’s what I said to them.
“Not taking anything away from Bideford, but the boys felt they should have won.
“Bideford played their style and a physical game.
“But I sat back and looked at our pack – and we are not the biggest – but I haven’t seen a bigger heart in any pack. We never get dominated and the guys did really well.
“We scored at the end and we thought we had enough time to carry on, but we didn’t.”
He added: “If I’m honest, they (Bideford) probably turned up expecting to put on a Honiton score on us and I think they were quite shocked by the performance our boys put in.”
COUNTIES THREE
OLD Techs were the only Plymouth Combination side to secure a win at the weekend in Devon South & West.
They beat struggling Kingsbridge 51-15 at Weston Mill to move up to seventh in the table.
Kieran Hurrell and Billy Evans both scored hat-tricks for Techs, who also had Ryan Smith and Brett Tunnicliffe touching down. Sam Matts kicked six conversions.
“It was good that we got a game and got a win,” said chairman David Evans.
“We had a few boys out and our pack was a lot different.
“We were slow starting, similar to last week against OPMs (Jesters), and then got into the game.
“To be fair, they (Kingsbridge) were quite game and they tackled well. I think they will upset people with that team.”
Techs were impressed with Joe Cartwright, who is normally a winger but played blindside flanker on Saturday and did well.
Plymouth Argaum dropped down to fourth in the table after they were beaten 24-0 away at Torquay Athletic II, who are now up to third in the standings behind Brixham II and Paignton II.
“It was a frustrating day,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery. “Everything that we tried to do, didn’t come off and we just tried to force it.
“I think we probably had about 25 handling errors during the game and we just couldn’t string phases together.
“We did have a much-changed team to last week. We had 10 changes and it just didn’t come together.
“We lost Cheyanne (Edwards) in the first few minutes with a knee injury and we missed his leadership at 10.
“We were only 7-0 down at half-time but then they scored a couple of late tries.
“It was disappointing.”
Tamar Saracens were also left frustrated after they narrowly lost 24-21 away at Salcombe.
Sarries had found themselves 17-0 down at half-time but turned it around and were winning 21-17 thanks to two tries from new signing Stefan Breedt and one from Isaac Blasdale. Lewis Swatton converted all three.
But Salcombe came back and took victory at the death with a converted try.
“We were 17-0 down at half-time but we got the reaction in the second half and we were winning 21-17,” said Sarries captain Adam Corbett. “But then we lost in the last minute of the game, which was very annoying.
“The lads put in a fantastic second half performance. It’s just a shame we couldn’t do it for 80 minutes as the result would have been totally different.
“The way we played almost feels like a win. It didn’t feel like a loss even though it was.”
Elsewhere in the division, Plymstock Oaks II were beaten 32-19 at home by Paignton II.
Oaks II, boosted by the return of a number of players including Connor McQueen, Sean Dunn and Pete Keanie, looked like they might cause a surprise as they were leading 14-10 at half-time thanks to tries by Andy Porter and Corey Jamieson.
They increased their lead to 19-10 after the interval with another try by Jamieson, but Paignton finished strongly and scored three tries and a penalty in the final 25 minutes to seal the win.
Plympton Victoria were not in league action but they beat OPM Jesters 17-0 in a club match.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II were beaten 71-7 away at title-chasing St Ives II.
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