DEVONPORT Services have one hand on the Regional One South West trophy after they dug deep to beat Launceston 38-24 away on Saturday.
Services will be crowned champions for a second time in three years if they can beat second-from-bottom Marlborough at home next Saturday.
“We just have to win next week, with or without the bonus point,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
There was a lot of pressure on Services going to Polson Bridge on Saturday, but, despite a blip early in the second half where they went behind, they came through to secure the five points.
“We got the job done,” said Russell.
“We were nowhere near where we needed to be, but we got the win.”
He added: “I think we were 21-10 up at half-time. We had been 21-3 ahead but dropped the next kick-off and let them score just before half-time.
“They then got a couple of quick tries at the start of the second half when we just switched off and they went in front at 24-21.
“We didn’t attack and just let them get on the ball, but we came good at the end.
“Launceston were dogged and physical. They came at us, but we just had a bit too much in the end.”
He added: “Both colts Nathan Todd and Ben Whysall came on and were brilliant on their debuts.”
Having gone behind to an early penalty, Services took advantage of a couple of Launceston yellow cards to go 14-3 up.
Charlie Groves hit a fine line to score their first from a tap penalty before fellow back George Pooley scored a second. Both were converted by Sam Brown.
And it got better for the visitors when Royal Navy player Pooley scored another try in the 35th minute after good play from a line-out.
But just before the interval, Launceston reduced the gap to 21-10 with a try in the corner after some strong pick-and-go work.
And the home side hit Devonport with two quick converted tries early in the second half to take a 24-21 lead.
However, Services knowing they had to win, got going again and Tom Davies put them back ahead with a try, which Brown converted.
Pooley then completed his hat-trick after he run down the wing after Devonport turned Launceston over and got the ball quickly to him.
Brown converted that try and added a penalty to make the game safe.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE dropped down to seventh place in the Regional Two South West table after they were beaten 29-8 away at third-placed Wadebridge.
However, the Bridgers’ play-off hopes are not over yet as they host winless bottom side Wellington next Saturday and then take on fellow play-off contenders Winscombe in their final match.
Ivybridge, who handed a debut from the bench to youngster Seb Lethbridge, did battle well down in Cornwall, but only had an Aaron Joynt try and a Charlie Teague penalty to show for their efforts.
Ivybridge forwards coach James Sloan said: “It was quite a good game. It was just execution from ourselves that let us down a bit in terms of try scoring. We were close about six or seven times but just did not execute.
“Whereas they did execute. From their five or six chances they got points, including a couple of breakaway tries.
“It was a good day for rugby and both teams tried to play so it was pretty entertaining.
“It was a good competitive game. It was just a few silly little errors in their 22 that let us down.
“But the boys played well and are building into next week.
“We will be expected to win next week at home (against Wellington) and hopefully that will give us a shot (of the play-offs) going into our final game against Winscombe.”
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks boosted their hopes of staying up in Western West with a much-needed 16-12 home victory over Kingsbridge at Horsham Fields.
With their relegation rivals Saltash, Penryn and Newton Abbot all having tricky away games and with Oaks having tough matches against the top two, Wiveliscombe and Paignton, to come in their next two fixtures, Plymstock knew they had to try and win on Saturday.
And they did that thanks to a converted try by Kieran Jamieson and three penalties by player-coach Lewis Paterson.
“We never actually said it was a must-win game, but it really was without a shadow of a doubt,” said coach Mike Lewis afterwards.
“We needed some big players to step up – and everyone did.
“If we had not won and with Saltash having to play Penryn, then one of them would have been able to go above us.
“We definitely needed that win and we did everything in our power to make sure we did get it.
“It was really good; we worked really, really hard.”
He added: “We played the most rugby. They (Kingsbridge) made too many mistakes and gave us the ball back and kept us in the ascendancy for most of the first half.
“But we just could not finish. They (Kingsbridge) were very resilient in defence and really tough to breakdown.
“We had a fair few chances to score, but they just grab that extra bit of shirt or something to bring boys down.
“We were 6-0 up at half-time with two penalties.
“But then we were playing downhill in the second half so we knew we had that momentum to run at them a little bit.
“I think we put ourselves 9-0 up but they scored. We then put ourselves up a bit more, but they came back again.
“It was a knife-edge game. Everyone was on the edge of their seat and it could have gone either way towards the end as they started to get a bit more possession and were putting us back in the corner a bit more.”
Due to a host of injuries, Oaks did have to call on a lot of youngsters on Saturday.
“On the wing, we had a lad called Jack Hughes, he is only 17 and it was his first senior game,” said Lewis. “We also had Murphy Dobson come off the bench for his first senior men’s game. They both did really well.
“I think the average age of our backline was 19 or 20, and that included Patty (Lewis Paterson).
“It was brilliant that they all came together. Hopefully, it is one of those moments in the season that will galvanise us and we can push on a bit.”
The win has moved Oaks seven points clear of Penryn and Saltash, who fill the bottom two spots. However, Penryn have a game in hand, while Saltash have home games against Penryn and Newton Abbot to come in their final four games.
It is likely the battle to finish outside the bottom two will go right down to the wire.
Saltash for once missed out on picking up any points as they were beaten 29-17 away at third-placed Barnstaple II.
The Ashes were missing the likes of Will Morton, Lewis Wells, Axel Hicks, Tom Horban and Dylan Davies, but still pushed Barnstaple II hard.
Saltash just paid for a poor start, with Barnstaple scoring two converted tries in the opening nine minutes.
But Saltash gradually came back into the game and were rewarded with a penalty from scrum-half Jack Pritchard to make it 14-3.
They continued to press and test the home side and hooker Fin Jones, with the support of his forwards, stormed through to score under the crossbar for a converted try on the half hour.
The game swung back towards Barnstaple five minutes later when they scored a converted try after some good handling to extend their lead to 21-10.
The Ashes worked hard to contain Barnstaple, but the home side got their bonus point try just before the interval when they kicked ahead and won the race for the ball to score and take a comfortable lead into the break.
The second period was much more even with neither side able to add to their score and it was not until the 71st minute that the lively Jones, who had an outstanding game, finished a good Ashes move went over the home line for a converted try.
Saltash were playing much better and were pressing for more points to possibly snatch a win or at least a bonus point or two, but were thwarted in the last minute with a drop-goal by Barnstaple’s Haydn Gosling.
Saltash had travelled to North Devon with an understrength side and although they started slowly came back to give a creditable performance with Lewis Woolaway in the forwards and centre Todd Crofts leading the recovery.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
DEVONPORT Services II’s winning run came to an end on Saturday as they were beaten 43-38 away at Bideford, who scored a late try to win the match.
Services head coach Ben Russell had said a team would have to score six tries to beat their second team and Bideford did just that.
However, Services II did pick up two bonus points from their trip to north Devon and they should still win the league as they are nine points clear with just four games to go – all which are home matches for Devonport.
Their remaining fixtures are against South Molton, Withycombe, Dartmouth and Tavistock – and for the latter three of those they are not likely to have a first team fixture.
They did travel to Bideford with a much-changed team to the one that had put 101 points on OPMs the week before and they found themselves 12-0 down early on in north Devon.
But they closed the gap with a try by fit-again Reece de Jersey before Aiden Taylor touched down to pull them level.
However, Bideford scored just before the break to take a 19-12 lead at the interval.
A Ewan Piercey try, converted by Toby Moss, pulled Services II back level before Billy Sutton put them in front for the first time.
In an end-to-end game, Bideford levelled again with a converted touch-down, only for Services to go seven points in front again with a converted effort by Alex Gibson.
Once again Bideford levelled with a converted try before they sneaked ahead with a penalty.
Taylor thought he had given Services II the win with his second score of the match, but Bideford managed to snatch victory right at the death with their sixth try.
The other end of the table is getting interesting again with Ivybridge II winning on Saturday and Tavistock and OPMs losing.
Second-from-bottom Ivybridge II gave themselves some hope of pulling off a great escape by beating Exeter Saracens 47-40 in a thriller at Cross-in-Hand.
Young debutant Isaac Forder sealed Ivybridge’s win with a try in the last minute.
Exeter Saracens did score an early converted try, but the home side hit back with three of their own courtesy of Al Percival, Hamish Harris and Owen Garner, all converted by Luke Martell, to go 21-7 in front.
Exeter brought it back to 21-14 before Lance Davies scored Ivybridge II’s fourth to make it 28-14.
However, the visitors scored just before the break to make it a one-score match at half-time.
Percival scored another after the interval to extend the home side’s lead, but two converted tries within eight minutes by Exeter levelled the match midway through the second half.
The teams traded tries again, with Harris touching down for his second for Ivybridge, to leave the game at 40-40.
But debutant Forder stepped up late on to win the match for the home team.
Ivybridge II are now within two wins of Tavistock and OPMs, who both failed to pick up any points at the weekend.
Tavistock were beaten 29-12 at home by fourth-placed Topsham II.
Will White and young debutant Maxwell Haddy scored Tavistock’s tries.
It was Tavistock’s first defeat in three games.
“The better team won,” admitted Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock. “They (Topsham II) broke our defence quite regularly.
“We did have some good periods, some very good periods, but, if anything, I don’t think we enjoyed defence like we have done in the last few weeks.
“They (Topsham) knew how to break and off-load – their off-loading was excellent.
“We knew it was going to be a massive game, but at least it was a better result than when we went there.
“We are definitely in a better place than earlier in the season and we have players available.”
He added: “But I do want to say how incredibly proud I am of this group of lads.
“It hasn’t always gone their way this season, and at times it’s been tough, but they’ve stuck together, kept showing up and stayed positive throughout.
“That says a lot about the character in the group.”
OPMs have fallen into a relegation battle after losing their fourth straight league game.
They were convincingly beaten 70-12 at home by second-placed Honiton.
That followed on from a 101-0 defeat to Services II, a 64-27 loss at Exeter Saracens and a 38-12 reverse against Tavistock.
They were not helped on Saturday by picking up three yellow cards and a red.
Billy Garratt was the man who was shown red in the second half after he picked up two yellow cards.
“It was tough,” said OPMs coach James Digweed.
“Again, I was proud of the boys who played, but there was limited availability for the third week running.
“It was definitely better. I think we had 19 to select from this week, but it is a side still with five or six twos players in it.
“We fulfilled the game again, but it was disappointing.
“There were a lot of missed tackles and some poor discipline. I think we had three yellows and a red.
“We were down to 13 at one point and I think for the majority of the game we were down to 14 players due to the yellows and the red.
“There were a lot of missed tackles and our fitness was poor, but we are getting better.”
James Mitchell and Will Mills scored OPMs’ tries, with Mills also adding a conversion.
OPMs are due to be back in action on Wednesday night when they play lower league Totnes in the Devon Junior Bowl at Plymstock’s Horsham Fields.
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
OLD Techs produced a strong second half display to finally secure a long-awaited derby win over their neighbours Tamar Saracens.
Techs triumphed 26-6 at the Parkway on Saturday, having been 6-5 down at the break.
It was their first league win over Sarries since October 2022.
Over the years, Sarries just kept edging them out in tight games, including earlier this season when they won 29-26 at Weston Mill with a last-gasp kick.
“It has been a long time coming,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith after Saturday’s victory.
“Someone said it has been 13 years or something since we last beat them – and there has been a lot of pain in that time so it’s nice to be smiling.
“I’m just really pleased for the players as they really wanted it.”
He added: “The first half was 6-5 and it was almost deja-vu. I said to the boys at half-time, ‘let’s not do the same as the last 24 times we have played them and lose by one point or something’.
“We had a lot of threat and possession and actually played some good rugby first half.
“They also played some good rugby first half and looked dangerous on the break.
“There were loads of chances in that opening half and a lot of last-gasp tackles from both teams.
“But we just said at half-time, ‘boys you just have to keep going as it will click’, and it did.
It was nice that it wasn’t even that close at the end. There were 20 points in it, and it was nice to get the bonus point as well.”
Sarries were without their club captain Adam Corbett, who ruptured his bicep on Thursday.
“I was gutted as I was really up for this game as well,” he said. “
“It is always a good game between us.
“We did have two injuries where the players couldn’t come back on and that affected our game and we only had two subs then to try and rotate. Then losing Lewis (Swatton) also late on was hard.
“We had to re-shuffle a lot (during the game), but I have to take my hat off to Techs as they did well. They are not third in the table for no reason
“I think it is 13 years since they last beat us.
“It’s on to next season for us now. We are re-building and we just have to keep plugging away.
“We always said this was a re-building season. We had new players coming in who have not played for us before and even now, towards the end of the season, we’ve had new players making their debuts.
“We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully next year it will be a different scenario.”
Corbett admitted an interception try by Techs right at the start of the second half was a big turning point.
“That just killed us as we were always then trying to chase the game,” he said.
Although there was only one try in the first half, there was plenty of good play and it certainly was not a dull opening 40 minutes.
Sarries started the game really well and took the lead in the third minute with a penalty by Swatton.
But six minutes later, Techs went in front with a good try by Billy Evans.
Techs did look like they were going to score one of the tries of the season late in the first half when an Ollie Davey break got them in a great position. The had the overlap out on the left and they produced some good hands right up until the final pass, which went to ground just a couple of metres from the line.
Sarries then had a great counter-attack break and were close before they got a penalty which Swatton kicked to give his side a 6-5 lead at the interval.
However, the second half was only 30 seconds old when replacement Ben Lynch intercepted a Sarries pass and ran 50 metres to score and put Techs in front.
Sam Matts converted that try and then he scored a fine try down the right wing to make it 19-6.
Both sides lost key players with injuries, but Techs secured the win when Josh O’Hare forced his way over from close range for his side’s fourth try. Matts converted all three of their tries in the second half.
The win keeps Techs in third place in the table.
Plymouth Argaum stay in fourth spot after they beat struggling Plymstock Oaks II 69-0 at Bickleigh Down.
Jake Turfrey, who had a big game, and Dan Smith both scored hat-tricks for Argaum, with Reece Boase bagging two and Rory McCarthy, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Charles vom Hagen also touching down.
“They (Oaks) did travel up with a full squad and they competed well,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery. “They probably had the better of us in the scrums.
“It was a good game.
“We did ask them if they wanted to finish early, but they wanted to get the full game in.
“It was a good day. It was nice to see that they (Oaks) have youth coming through their system and hopefully we can have the same soon.
“There was quite a big crowd there, the tuck shop was open and the sun was shining, which was nice, as was getting the win as well.”
Plympton Victoria returned home win a bonus point from their trip to Totnes.
They were beaten 64-24 but they have picked up six points in seven days to move off the foot of the table, having beaten Oaks last Saturday.
Lewis Jeffery 2, Louie Ellison and Chris Barratt scored their tries at Totnes, with Barratt adding two conversion.
“The result wasn’t great, but we are starting to put some scores on the table, which is nice,” said Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt.
“Once again, we had Kev Jefferies playing who is closer to 60 than 50, and we had to start with 14 people as one bloke was on a call-out.
“But we did actually start the game quite brightly, but we had a load of forwards playing in the backs.
“For the first 20-30 minutes we had a fair amount of parity, but we can’t expect forwards to run like backs for 80 minutes.”
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II were beaten 56-19 at home by St Agnes, who secured the league title with their victory at Moorlands Lane.
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