DEVONPORT Services have taken a massive step towards a return to National League rugby after they beat title-rivals Topsham 39-29 in a tense top-of-the-table clash at the Rectory on Saturday.
The victory, which came courtesy of tries by Matt Gregory, James McFarlane, Charlie Groves, Richard West, Tom Davies and Mike Rickard, moves Services six points clear at the top of the table with just three games to go.
Devonport know they need just two wins from their remaining games against Launceston, Marlborough and Sidmouth to lift the Regional One South West title for a second time in three seasons.
But head coach Ben Russell has told his team not to think the job is done yet.
“We have got a buffer, but as I said to the lads, we can’t now not back it up,” said Russell.
“They have produced a performance like that where they have fought and fought and given it their all.
“But now we have to go to Launceston and put in another good performance and then another against Marlborough. If we do that, it could be over by then as we have got that buffer.
“It is in our hands, but we don’t want to lose a game.”
Russell was delighted with his side’s display against Topsham.
They dominated the first period and were 24-7 up at one point, but their Devon rivals did come back in the second half and closed to within three points at one stage. However, Services dug deep to even deny them a losing bonus point at the end.
“In the first half with all the dominance we had we should have been up by more points,” said Russell.
“We left only a little bit for them to pull back and they did.
“In that first 15-20 minutes of the second half there wasn’t a score and it was a bit of a chess match.
“But overall, it was cracking. I think that is the best the boys have played all year – less about attack but more about defence and work-rate. We just kept on going and going.
“It was a proper squad performance from one to 18. Everyone was outstanding. It was just brilliant.
“I think it was fully deserved for the boys as they were outstanding, but credit to Topsham as they are a very good team.
“If we do go on and win the league and they are in the play-offs, they will be a very tough team to beat.”
Services came out with plenty of intent from the beginning.
Liam Jarvis thought he had scored an opportunist try in the fifth-minute, but it was ruled out for a couple of earlier knock-ons.
However, Services kept the pressure on and a George Pooley grubber kick caused problems in Topsham’s defence and Jarvis pounced on the loose ball and fed Gregory, who ran in to score under the posts.
It was fitting that Services’ first try of the afternoon in such an important game came from the club’s longest-serving player.
Sam Brown added the conversion and 10 minutes later Topsham were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes after hooker Ethan Barnaschone was sin-binned for pulling down a good Devonport maul.
From the penalty, Services went for another catch-and-drive move and prop McFarlane managed to get the ball down over the whitewash to make it 12-0.
Topsham missed a penalty on 21 minutes and Devonport lost a good line-out opportunity four minutes later at the other end.
The visitors’ line-out jumpers did well all afternoon at reading and disrupting Services’ set-piece.
And the home side suffered a blow in the 29th minute when Topsham were awarded a penalty try and Services had fly-half Brown yellow carded for what the referee deemed a deliberate knock-on right on the line.
But while a man down, Services actually scored two tries to take a 24-7 lead.
Charlie Groves scored their third of the afternoon after good play by West, Pooley, Gregory and Rickard.
West added the conversion and then eight minutes later he popped up at the back of a driving maul to score his side’s fourth try.
However, deep in first half injury-time, Topsham pulled a try back when they scored from close range after some intense pressure from the re-start.
That converted try made it 24-14 at the break and gave Topsham hope.
And the visitors did dominate the opening 20 minutes of the second half. They started getting on top in the scrums and continued to disrupt Services’ line-out.
James Mattin kicked a penalty in the 58th minute to reduce the gap to seven points, but Brown quickly cancelled that one out with a kick of his own at the other end.
As the game went into the final 15 minutes, it started to get nerve-wracking for the home supporters as Topsham pressed and pressed with scrums on Services’ line.
Eventually their pressure did tell when key number eight Robin Edbrooke managed to force his way over for a converted try, which cut Devonport’s lead to just three points.
But the home side responded straight away with Tom Davies gathering a good pass out wide and charging down the right wing to score. Brown added the conversion to restore Devonport’s 10-point advantage at 34-24.
Topsham, though, would not lie down and they hit back again in the 77th minute with a try out wide by Tom Oxland, which made it 34-29.
The game could have easily gone either way at that point. Topsham got a penalty in their own half and went to fire the ball down field, but West somehow leaped to keep the ball in play and it allowed Devonport to attack. It was a crucial moment towards the end of the contest.
And once the home side got into Topsham’s 22, they just kept it tight and used their forwards to keep pressing and killing the clock down, with the likes of Gregory and Oli Symons taking the ball into contact time after time. Eventually, when Services knew time was up, they spread the ball wide and there was Rickard to score in the corner with the last play of the game and seal and impressive win.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
AN understrength Ivybridge team suffered their biggest loss of the season as they were beaten 71-17 at home by unbeaten league leaders Weston-super-Mare.
The Bridgers were struggling for availability across their two teams on Saturday and coaches Steve Atkinson and James Sloan both sat on the bench for their respective two league sides.
Atkinson was with the first team, who ran out of steam against a pacey Weston side, who had centre Alex Howman bagging four tries and winger Hayden Main three. Full-back Chris Young, fly-half George Nuttycombe and back-rowers Nasili Ikahihifo and Jacob Cox also touched down for the visitors.
Ivybridge’s tries came from an early one from Al Percival, which gave his side the lead, before Charlie Teague scored just before half-time and then scrum-half James Cantin added a third in the second half.
“It was a tough day,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson.
“We started really well and played some great rugby in the first 15 minutes. It looked like it was going to be a great game to watch.
“We had a depleted squad and ended up with a couple of twos lads having to step up and then I also had to sit on the bench.
“Fair play to Weston, they play a good game of hard rugby and love to sling it wide when it’s on. They’ll do okay at level five next year if they manage to keep hold of some of their players.
“I’m sure they’ll be alright though as they look like they are a well run club now.
“We gave it a good go for 60 minutes, but because we emptied the tank, they just ran away with it in the end.
“The lads didn’t give up though and still played some lovely rugby which caught Weston a couple of times, but we just couldn’t get that fourth try to get something out of the game.”
Ivybridge remain in sixth spot but they are now seven points off a play-off position, but they will play their game in hand against winless bottom side Wellington next weekend.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
IT WAS another tough day for Saltash and Plymstock Oaks in the ultra-competitive Western West league.
Bottom side Saltash suffered yet another heartbreaking one-score loss – their 10th in 14 defeats – going down 29-28 at home to fellow strugglers Torquay Athletic.
Oaks, meanwhile, dropped back into the bottom three after they lost 17-5 away at St Ives.
With second-from-bottom Penryn beating Barnstaple II, the bottom of the league is becoming more congested.
It is likely a team could finish in the bottom two with more than 40 points to their name.
Having lost a lead against Oaks last weekend, Saltash came from behind this Saturday to almost snatch victory.
They had found themselves 29-11 down to Torquay in the first half, but they came back and could have won the game had they opted to take a kick at goal towards the end of the contest.
The home side were forced to make a late change to their line-up before the start when young flanker Laurie Thomson had to withdraw and was replaced by Lewis Wells.
An early penalty by Jack Pritchard put Saltash ahead but Torquay quickly took the lead with a try down the left wing in the fourth minute.
Saltash forced the visitors back towards their own line and were rewarded after 12 minutes with Cornwall under-18 player Dylan Davies touching down on the right to regain the home advantage.
Torquay began to take control of the game and broke through the Ashes defence for a converted try following some strong running and handling.
A Jack Pritchard penalty after 19 minutes closed the gap to one point as the Ashes tried to take hold of the game.
However, a breakaway Torquay try, which was converted, increased the Devon side’s lead and a penalty three minutes later pushed the score to 22-11.
At this stage Torquay were well in command and seemed to have victory in sight as more good forward play and handling resulted in a converted try after 32 minutes which gave them an interval lead of 29-11 and the bonus point.
Ryan Hanauer, Mawgan Penrice, Callum Crocker and Lloyd Penhalagan scored tries for Torquay, who included former Albion player George Mills in their starting line-up. Lewis Crocker kicked three conversion and a penalty for the Tics, but they were unable to add any points in the second period as Saltash dominated.
The Ashes came out for the second half with a great determination and pressed hard towards the visiting try line. Phil Eatwell, who put in an impressive performance, finished off a smart move by touching down under the posts for a converted try on 45 minutes
The Ashes continued to dominate and only good Torquay defending kept them out.
Another Pritchard penalty after 57 minutes closed the score to 29-21.
As the contest moved into the closing minutes Saltash turned down the opportunity to kick a penalty, instead going for the corner without success.
Yet they continued to strongly attack Torquay and were rewarded in the final moments when Ryan Cruickshanks, who came off the bench at the interval, concluded some slick Ashes handling for a converted try.
It was another close and entertaining game for the neutral but disappointing for the Ashes, who gave an impressive second half performance and were unlucky not to gain the points after being second best in the first period.
Cruickshanks injected some passion into the Saltash backs who were well supported by their pack.
Torquay had a good first half but ran out of steam as Saltash’s influence grew but just managed to hold on for the win.
However, there was some joy for Saltash as their seconds won again and their successful colts secured the Cornwall Plate by beating Truro colts 44-40 in an exciting final to put another trophy on the shelf at Moorlands Lane.
Oaks had another frustrating afternoon in Cornwall as they were beaten 17-5 by St Ives.
They were not helped by losing player-coach Lewis Paterson to an injury in the warm-up and then losing another two players in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Oaks were also held up over the line three times in west Cornwall.
“It was so frustrating,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis.
“We had a load of players missing and we then lost three more players in the first 10 minutes of the game.
“We are back in the bottom three now and the teams below us have games in hand.”
Oaks found themselves 10-0 down at half-time, with Fletcher Kelly and Chris Warren scoring tries for St Ives.
After the interval, St Ives increased their advantage to 17-0 with a try and conversion from William McRitchie.
But after been held up a couple of times, Oaks did finally get a try in the closing stages when prop Nathan Akers got over the whitewash.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
DEVONPORT Services II find themselves 10 points clear at the top of Counties Two Devon with a game in hand after they beat Crediton II 57-22 and their titles rivals Bideford and Honiton both lost.
Services II were missing a number of forwards, but they had plenty of backs to select from for the visit of Crediton II.
The visitors did take a shock early lead but then Services II ran in eight unanswered tries to take a 52-5 lead.
Services II did lose a couple of front-rowers late on and Crediton II did come back and secured themselves a try-scoring bonus point with three late tries.
Sam Fincham and Toby Knowles both scored two tries for Devonport’s second string, with Ethan Hilland, Ben Whysall, Matt Neyle, James Thorp and Ethan Millard adding their other touch-downs with Neyle kicking the rest of the points.
Vaughan Glovers scored a hat-trick of tries as Tavistock moved further clear of the drop-zone with an impressive 40-12 home victory over Ivybridge II, who remain in the bottom two.
Saturday’s win at Sandy Park followed on from an equally impressive 38-12 victory away at OPMs the week before.
“I’m very happy,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock. “It just shows what a bit of belief does.
“We played on the front-foot from the word go.
“Ivybridge had some really good spells, but we actually looked like we enjoyed defence. It was really good.
“We had a colt step on to the field after just 10 minutes after Charlie Charlton goes off injured, but he looked like he had been playing all year.
“It was a massive day and it was brilliant.”
He added: “Our scrum demoralised them. I don’t think they had one scrum where they weren’t going backwards.
“You have got Harry Ball, who was playing on the wing last year, but he is now scrumming at loose-head for three-quarters of the game and looks like he has played there all his life.
“But I said at the end of the game, these two weeks will mean nothing unless we step on.
“This week and last week are behind us now, we have to look forward now and try to keep putting in these performances.
“All season there have been flashes of brilliance, but it is just the consistency that’s been lacking.
“But for the last two weeks, even though selection hasn’t been consistent, the mind-set, organisation and knowing what we want to do has been consistent.”
Tavistock scored six tries in total on Saturday. As well as Glover getting three, there were also touch-downs for Liam Watts, Calum Baker and James Lamb.
They were dominant from the word go and took a 26-5 lead into the change of ends.
OPMs find themselves increasingly looking over their shoulder after a tough few weeks.
They were struggling to get a team together to travel to Exeter Saracens on Saturday, but they did, and they managed to secure a try-scoring bonus point in a 64-27 defeat.
“It actually wasn’t as bad as it looks,” said OPMs head coach James Digweed.
“We only had 12 available as of Friday night as we have so many injuries, but we managed to rope in some of our twos and went up there with 16, but someone got injured in the first minute.
“It was a case of go up there to avoid losing five points – that was the aim of the day.
“But I think at half-time there was only nine points in it. It was quite close and we didn’t look like we were out of the game, to be honest.
“Early in the second half we scored a fourth try to get a bonus point, so we were quite happy.
“But towards the end we did have some tired bodies as they had played the full 80 minutes.
“But everyone had a smile on their face and enjoyed themselves.
“I think the score flattered them really.
“Even the ref said at the end that we had a great attitude and a low penalty count.
“I am over the moon bizarrely as it could have been so much worse.
“Our chairman, who is 47, played as we were really low on numbers.”
Alex Jewell, Aaron Stapleton, Jack Mitchell and Jacob Le Marquand scored tries for OPMs, with had Will Mills kicking the rest of the points in the absence of Fred and Matt Smale.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
WALKOVERS and game-on contests were the order of the day in Devon South & West on Saturday as teams across the county were hit by unavailabilities.
Bottom side Plympton Victoria were short but still made the tough trip to high-flying leaders Brixham II.
The home side were too strong for them and won 87-0, but Plym Vic were pleased they made the trip to Astley Park for an early kick-off, with Brixham’s first team playing Sidmouth an hour later.
“We have been struggling with numbers but we went up there and they accepted ‘game-on’,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“They were too strong for us, but that’s the reason why they are 20 points clear at the top of the league.
“We played our game a bit early as their firsts were at home, but they are like a professional unit with a proper stadium and everything.
“In the first half we were competitive but in the second half their quality shone through. There were a few guys who were first team quality or close to it, and that is such a gulf that it will always make it a tough day at the office.
“But we got a team and had a run out. We are just gearing ourselves up for the Pedrick Cup final now.”
Plymouth Argaum were handed a walkover before kick-off by Kingsbridge II, but their opponents did bring 13 players to Bickleigh Down for a friendly to avoid a points deduction.
“We found out on Friday night that they were unable to raise a full side,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“They said they were going to concede the game as they didn’t have a front-row.
“I told our players on the Friday night and a few dropped out to work and for child care reasons, which we understand, but it allowed us to bring in some fringe players.
“I think we had 19 in the end and they turned up with 13, which we matched.
“We did have a good game. We played a lot of players out of position and just played with a smile on our faces.
“It was good to get a run-out and we were able to give a few players a game.”
Argaum won 34-19 with Dan Smith scoring two tries and Stuart Giles, Rory McCarthy and Josh Taulor also touching down.
Old Techs were handed a walkover by Totnes and did not play any sort of a fixture.
Tamar Saracens also did not make the trip to Torquay Athletic II.
“We just had too many injuries and unavailabilties,” said Tamar Saracens captain Adam Corbett.
“I think we had 20 unavailable this weekend.
“We have been getting really good availability for games, but this weekend seemed like everyone was injured or away the same weekend.”
Plymstock Oaks II were also struggling for players, but they did play Salcombe at home, losing 36-22.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II made it three wins in a row with a 38-24 home win over St Ives II.
Devonport Services v Topsham pictures
Devonport Services II v Crediton II pictures
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