PLYMSTOCK Oaks were beaten by Truro for a third time this season as they went down 23-10 at Horsham Fields on Saturday in Counties One Western West.
Oaks had already lost twice away to their Cornish rivals – once in the league and once in the RFU Community Cup.
And their hopes of gaining revenge on Saturday disappeared with an error-strewn performance.
Truro did out-score them four tries to one, but the Cornish club’s failure to convert any of those efforts did keep Oaks in the game.
Plymstock did try everything they could to get something out of the contest in the final 15 minutes when Truro picked up two yellow cards. But Oaks could not take advantage due to all their little mistakes, like failing to find touch with penalties, not throwing straight at line-outs and knock-ons.
The win has moved Truro up to fourth place, while Oaks stay third-from-bottom, but they have now played two more games than Saltash who are one place and seven points behind them.
Afterwards coach Mike Lewis said: “Even though the pitch was a bit soggy, it didn’t really rain that much and the wind stayed down, so it was actually quite a good day to play rugby.
“Yeah, the ball was slippery and so passes were going down, but we expected that, however, we know we are a bit better than that.
“We knew what they (Truro) were going to do in the game – we outlined it and watched the videos – and we mentioned what to do, but we did something slightly different and that is a bit frustrating.”
He added: “Last week (against Redruth II), we knew we were the better side and this week we also felt we were the better side, but we are not showing that, so we are not at the minute, which is a bit of a contradiction in its own terms.
“We should have been running around them a bit more with the outside backs we have got and we also should be going through them a bit more, but we are just not working as a collective well enough at the minute.
“As we said in the group at the end, we just have to work a bit better together and talk better.
“In the two games we won before and after Christmas, we did that in abundance.”
What did please the Oaks coaching staff is that the team did finish strongly and showed determination to try and snatch something at the end, even if their execution just let them down.
“It is a huge positive of the chaps that they don’t give up,” said Lewis.
“We have got quite a few young lads and they will learn how to play out and win a game. It just takes a season or so to do that and blood all these lads into playing men’s rugby.
“They need to learn how to come out on top in a game like that.”
Lewis admitted it was probably one of the most mistake-ridden games Oaks have produced this season.
“I would probably say it was up there,” he admitted. “It was just little things, like missing kicks to touch and then when we did get them, missing the line-out. It was just simple little things.
“But we’ll work on it. We’ve got a couple of weeks before our next game and it’s still pretty exciting.
“We know this season that every game is going to be close and it is a really tough league, but we know going forward that we are going to win five or six more games and we will be fine.”
In the only match to survive in Western West and in Plymouth, Truro took the lead in the 18th minute when experienced back-rower Jack Tidball forced his way over from close range following pressure from a line-out.
The visitors, playing down the slope, then added a second try straight from the restart. They gathered the ball under intense pressure on their own line and somehow managed to sneak down the blindside before kicking ahead and lock Dan Head managed to collect the ball to score and make it 10-0.
Oaks did cut the gap with a Lewis Paterson penalty two minutes later after a good break by Corey Jamieson.
They then pulled level when Kieran Jamieson touched down in the left corner when he dived on a loose ball in the in-goal area after an earlier good break.
It looked like the sides might switch ends at 10-10 after Oaks held Truro up over the line in the 38th minute.
But from the drop-out, Truro ran the ball back well and eventually winger Liam Wilson went over in the left corner to make it 15-10.
Truro made it 20-10 with another Head try after the interval after Tidball had done the hard work with a pick-and-go break before off-loading to his team-mate right on the try line.
Head scored under the posts and so it looked certain that fly-half Liam Jolly would add the conversion, but he took too long with his effort and the referee blew his whistle to disallow it before he kicked it over.
But Jolly did add a penalty 12 minutes later from a scrum after Oaks had knocked on in their own 22.
It was just one of those days for Oaks where nothing they tried came off. Truro did make it difficult for them in the line-out, but too many throws were not straight, and they also missed touch twice in the final 15 minutes when they had a chance to really press Truro’s line.
They did have some joy with their maul late on but did not use it enough to get the try they needed for at least a bonus point.
In Counties Two Devon, Ivybridge II went down 20-7 in horrible conditions at South Molton.
The Bridgers’ second team had gone in front at Unicorn Park with a Cal Law try which was converted by Angus Harris.
But South Molton managed three first half tries courtesy of Shane Richards, James Taylor and Landers to take a 20-7 lead at the break, which was how it stayed.
“I’m not sure the scoreline reflected the first half,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson, who was able to watch the second XV after the first team’s match at Wellington was postponed for a second time due to a waterlogged pitch.
“It was tight and we made two errors close to our line and they scored off both.
“We went in at half-time 20-7 down, but without those two errors we made it would have been a fairer reflection of the half.
“Second half it was like a bog. I’m not sure the game should have gone on, to be honest, but we wanted a game, so we were happy to play on whatever.
“It was just back and forth drop balls the whole second half and that showed as there were zero points scored.
“They (South Molton) probably deserved the win on the basis of they made two errors less than us.”
All the other matches featuring teams from the Plymouth area were postponed for waterlogged pitches, apart from Plympton Victoria v Old Techs, which was postponed as the clubs were told there was no referee available when a decision on the game had to be made. The match will now be played next Saturday.
In a post, Plympton Victoria said: “Unfortunately there isn’t enough refs at the moment and they have been on the decline for a number of years
“If you have a passion for the sport but are too broken to play, please get hold of your local rugby club or the referees’ society and have a little butchers at a course. There’s always the benefit of a free meal and possibly a post-match pint.”
It is not the first time a league game in Plymouth has been postponed for a lack of a referee this season. The same thing happened on October 11 when Plymouth Argaum were due to host Totnes.
The only game to be played in that division at the weekend saw leaders Brixham II beat second-placed Paignton II 60-5.
All pictures are low resolution and are protected by copyright so should not be used without permission.