IVYBRIDGE were left frustrated after they made a wasted trip to Wellington on Saturday in Regional Two South West.
The Bridgers had been assured the Somerset club’s pitch was playable after the fixture had twice been postponed previously due to waterlogging.
But just an hour before kick-off on Saturday the game was called off.
Ivybridge say the referee decided the surface was not playable, however, Wellington posted on social media on the day that ‘Ivybridge have decided not to play’.
The Bridgers had offered to switch the fixture, the first meeting of the season between the sides, if there was any doubt about the pitch again after it had been postponed twice before due to the weather.
“We travelled up there as we were told the pitch was playable,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson.
“From the photos I saw when we got there, there were a few patches of standing water, but the coaches left it to the ref to decide.
“He decided it was unplayable about an hour before kick-off.
“We’re a little bit frustrated as Wellington were told if there was any chance of the pitch being unplayable, they had to find an alternative or reverse the fixture and they come to us.
“I get they want it at their place, but they should have probably bit the bullet and reversed the fixture, and we go back there when the weather is better.”
He added: “We’ll wait for a decision from the league and RFU, but we are a bit disappointed Wellington let us travel up there when they knew there may be a chance the pitch would be unplayable.”
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
Exeter Saracens 52 Tavistock 40
STRUGGLING Tavistock came agonisingly close to causing a bit of an upset in their ‘away’ fixture against third-placed Exeter Saracens at Ivybridge on Saturday.
Tavistock took the lead with just 10 minutes to go in a thrilling contest on the Cross-in-Hand artificial pitch, which Exeter had booked to make sure the fixture was played.
But, in a match where there was a bit of a clash of team colours, Saracens edged themselves five points up going into the final few minutes.
Tavistock threw everything at Sarries in the closing minutes looking for a possible winning try.
With the last play of the game, they got a penalty and tried to attack from the line-out, but they were turned over and Exeter ran 65 metres to score a converted try and cruelly rob Tavistock of an extra bonus point.
Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock admitted his team had to try and go for the win and he said he was ‘very proud’ of his side’s performance against one of the top teams in the league.
“It was really nice to see a bit of belief in our attack,” he said afterwards.
“We had a lad who had come up from the colts for his first senior game and didn’t look out of place, so I was very proud of Rory Cox there.
“We conceded early, which feels like a Tavistock way, but we didn’t let our chins drop and we just went back at them. I was very proud.
“We do have to do a lot of work in defence.
“But that showed where we really should be punching, but we are where we are (third from bottom) because of our performances and we have to take that.
“We were going for it at the end, and it was nice to see a bit of a buzz and energy from the boys.”
Puttock admitted it was one of his side’s best performances of a tough campaign.
“Early in the season we had some really good displays,” he said. “But, for me, that is probably our most organised game.”
Tavistock have only played two home games in the past three months and so they do know they have a host of matches at Sandy Park coming up in the next couple of months, starting with Honiton next weekend.
“It does feel like we haven’t seen Sandy Park for so long for a proper game,” said Puttock.
“We need to try and keep as many of those boys together, as we should be competing every game.”
The likes of Cam Wallace, Tylo Coupland and Calum Baker really impressed in the pack on Saturday, as did veteran Martin Budden when he came on.
But Tavistock did give themselves a bit of a mountain to climb after going 14-0 down after just six minutes, with Charlie Parr and Armand Graham touching down for Exeter Saracens.
However, the ‘visitors’ did respond and scrum-half Oscar Slater scored after some good pressure and Freddie Fuller added the conversion.
And almost straight from the re-start they pulled level with hooker Wallace using his power to force his way over following a tap penalty. Fuller again added the extras.
Exeter did hit back with tries by Levi Richards and Matt Spry to go two scores up again, but Budden, a late replacement to the squad, came on and pulled a converted try back before half-time to make it a one-score match again.
In the opening 30 minutes of the second half, every time one team scored a try, the other responded.
Richards grabbed a second for Exeter in the 57th minute, but that was instantly cancelled out by a fine effort from Tavistock flanker Baker.
Charlie Parr went over for a long-range effort from Sarries before Coupland cancelled that out for Tavistock.
With 70 minutes of the clock, Tavistock went in front for the first time when scrum-half Slater scored his second converted try after a great break by Budden.
But their lead lasted just four minutes as speedy Ben Parr scored to put his side back in front.
Tavistock really threatened Exeter’s line but were penalised when they looked like they might score.
They did get one more chance when they got a penalty in the middle of the park and went for the line-out. However, after trying to attack from it, they got turned over and Ben Parr ran in to score a breakaway try for Exeter and deny Tavistock a losing bonus point to go with their try-scoring one.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
Plympton Victoria 5 Old Techs 38
OLD TECHS made it five wins in a row in Devon South & West with a hard-earned 38-5 victory over Plympton Victoria at a muddy St Mary’s Field on Saturday.
Techs were without some key players like Ollie Davey and Josh O’Hare but they showed their strength in depth to move up to third in the table.
They did the damage early in the game before the heavy rain came, but Plym Vic did frustrate them for long spells, especially in the second half, and the hosts did get a try themselves courtesy of prop Dan Warne.
Techs’ tries came from Billy Evans (2), Kieran Hurrell, Lewis Harvey, Ben Wheatley and Brett Tunnicliffe.
“It was a bit of a scrappy game with the conditions,” said Techs chairman David Evans.
“We did go 21-0 up in the first 20 minutes, but they (Plym Vic) are a plucky side, and they do just keep going.
“We were missing some big players, but we had 20 players again and it shows that we have some strength in depth.
“I think we have just gone top of the (Plymouth) Merit Table with that win so there are positives and we are going in the right direction.”
Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt added: “We kept them contained for 40 or 50 minutes of the game, but it’s just about getting that go-forward going.
“The guys really dug it out towards the end of the first half and in the second half and kept it tight, which is good, but we just have to be able to take our opportunities when we get the ball as you can’t defend your way to a victory.”
RFU COMMUNITY CUP
Plymouth Argaum 12 Wells 24
PLYMOUTH Argaum’s hopes of a Twickenham cup final were ended on Saturday as they were beaten 24-12 by an impressive Wells side at Bickleigh Down in the last 16 of the Counties Three & Below Championship.
The youthful Wells outfit showed why they are unbeaten this season with some really good handling in difficult conditions and some strong defence.
The Somerset visitors appear to have a really good all-round game and they used that to score four tries and limit Argaum to just two – and one of those came with the last play.
Earlier in the season, Argaum had the likes of Tom Holliday, Tom Worboys and Adam Walker in their team and they probably could have done with their extra strong running in tricky conditions on Saturday.
Instead, they were relying heavily on the likes of Dean Avery, Dan Smith and Will Lloyd to make ground through the middle, which they did, but it meant Wells knew where the main threat was coming from.
But head coach Avery was proud of his team’s performance on Saturday.
“They (Wells) were a very strong outfit and had a few really strong runners,” he said.
“Every time we took the ball forward, they were off the line putting shots in.
“I think we did what we set out to do – we looked after the ball for long periods, forced the penalties and got down into the corners. We were held up over the line three times so it could have been a lot different if we had got those tries.
“But overall, I was massively proud of the team.
“It was a really good performance and the players did what we asked them to do. It was just a shame we were on the wrong side of the scoreline.”
Playing downhill first half, Wells took just three minutes to open the scoring courtesy of lock Thomas Phillips.
But Argaum did hit back. Dan Smith was held up over the line in the eighth minute before the home side attacked again from the drop-out and eventually prop Will Lloyd was driven over to level the match.
However, Wells took a 19-5 lead at the break after scoring following a high kick that caught Argaum out and then a well-worked line-out.
Wells started the second half well. They were held up over the line before they did get a fourth try and go 24-5 ahead before the heavens opened at Bickleigh Down.
However, after that Argaum had a lot of the ball, despite picking up two yellow cards to Wells’ one.
The home side were held up again late on before Avery did finally convert their pressure in a try with the last play.
EXETER SARACENS v TAVISTOCK GALLERY
PLYMOUTH ARGAUM v WELLS GALLERY
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