DEVONPORT Services added another piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet on Friday night when their twos team won the Devon 2nd XV Cup by beating their Topsham counterparts 51-27 at the Rectory.
The second team’s success came just six days after their first team had won the Regional One South West title.
However, the second team hope the Devon cup will just be the first of three trophies for them.
They currently have a nine-point lead at the top of Counties Two Devon with just three games to go, while they have also reached the final of the Plymouth Combination Lockie Cup.
“We are going for a triple,” said Services II player-coach Aiden Taylor. “We want to win everything.
“We didn’t play our best on the night, but it was good enough.
“I said to the lads ‘if we played 75-80 per cent we would win the game’.
“We had a bit of a scare early on, but we seem to like conceding early and then coming back.
“It seems to take us 20 minutes to click into gear, but once we play our rugby, few can live with us.
“We just needed to keep hold of the ball a bit more, stop giving penalties away and play in their area.
“When we did that and got the ball through the hands in the backs, we tore them apart. There was one really lovely try in the second half.
“We know if we play like that, we will win the league, hopefully, next week, but if not the following week against Dartmouth.”
Topsham II gave Services II an early scare with full-back Joe Cave scoring a converted try after less than two minutes after the home side had lost the ball deep in their own half.
But Toby Moss reduced the gap with a penalty on five minutes before hooker Ethan Hilland scored from a catch-and-drive move. Moss added the conversion to put the home side 10-7 up.
However, Topsham, who started the match well, restored their lead when centre Callum Robertson crossed for a converted try just seconds after the visitors had been held up over the line.
Services, though, took control of the game in the final 20 minutes of the first half with four tries.
Flanker Harry Gascoyne went over from a catch-and-drive effort before centre Ewan Piercy scored a fine try on the left after Services had stolen a Topsham line-out on the right and Hilland had done really well before recycling.
Topsham did kick a penalty to reduce the gap to 20-17, but Services then scored twice within two minutes.
Young centre Elliott Pocknell crossed in almost the same spot as Piercy had before after some quick play from a tap penalty, before Nathan Todd capped a fine week with another try on the left after a great run by Toby Knowles.
Youngster Todd had scored two tries on his full debut for the first team on the Saturday against Marlborough.
Deep in first-half injury-time Topsham did pull another try back courtesy of prop Nico Ferranti to make the half-time score 30-22.
But that ballooned to 51-22 after the interval.
Influential forward Todd scored his second of the game in the 58th minute, which replacement Matt Neyle converted.
Pocknell then added his second with a fine individual effort on the right, which was also converted by Neyle.
Topsham II were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes midway through the half and replacement Leighton Stark burst through on the right following a scrum on the left to touch-down and Neyle added the extras.
The game lost its way in the final 15 minutes with problems in the scrum and stoppages.
Topsham did score a late fourth try through number eight Fin Cackett, but it was no more than a consolation effort for the visitors.
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