REGIONAL One South West champions Devonport Services ended their successful season on a defeat as they were narrowly beaten 37-34 away at Sidmouth on Saturday.
Services had already won the title in their last match against Marlborough and were missing a host of players for this weekend’s final fixture.
Sam Brown, Dan Lilley, Mike Rickard, Matt Gregory, James Hocking, James McFarlane, Tyler Busfield, Harrison Coonick, Ben Whysall, Harri Hayman and Toby Knowles were among those not available this weekend.
It meant youngsters Ewan Piercy, Nathan Todd, Henry Gascoyne and Josh Martin got starts against Sidmouth, while Louis Tout and Fin White were among the replacements.
Sidmouth desperately needed the win to try and avoid the relegation play-offs.
They were over the moon on the final whistle, but then later found out that Launceston had also pulled off a surprise result by beating second-placed Topsham away and so the east Devon side did finish in the bottom four.
“We weren’t very good,” admitted Services head coach Ben Russell afterwards.
“We weren’t clinical in attack. We probably left four or five tries out there.
“When we did play, we played some lovely rugby.
“Defensively we were sound for most of the game, but we just weren’t physical enough.
“They were fighting to avoid a (relegation) play-off spot and they wanted it more.
“Their line-out and maul were quite a threat, but we gave them a couple of tries.
“However, they probably deserved to win in the end, so fair play to them.
“The sad thing for them was, they beat us, but then Launceston beat Topsham at Topsham.”
He added: “I didn’t want to lose, but we had already won the league.
“If we’d had something on the line, then probably some of the boys who were missing would have played.
“But in a way it was nice to have a load of 17, 18, 19 and 20-year-olds playing. It’s good for them for next year and their development. They now know what they have to do in pre-season to try and push for a spot next year.
“Louis Tout, who is only 18, came on and played really well at tight-head.
“We came back well at the end. I think we were 37-24 down at one point. But we came back with two tries and had the ball at the end but just turned it over.”
Sidmouth had gone 10-0 up early on, but Services hit back with a try by Charlie Groves, which Richard West converted.
The visitors then went in front with an interception try by Tom Davies, which West again converted.
But then Sidmouth had a purple patch and went 29-14 ahead before hooker Rob Walsh and prop Oli Symons scored tries to close that gap to 29-24.
However, Sidmouth, desperate for the win, responded and went 37-24 ahead, but Services finished strongly with two tries by Davies to complete his hat-trick. Unfortunately, in windy conditions neither could be converted to secure the visitors the win.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE missed out on the Regional Two South West promotion play-offs by the smallest of margins after drawing 31-31 away at Winscombe on Saturday.
Both Ivybridge and Winscombe went into the game knowing a win could secure them a top five place, with fellow play-off rivals Crediton playing unbeaten champions Weston-super-Mare away.
Crediton, as predicted, did lose, but a three-point draw was just not quite enough for either Ivybridge or Winscombe to bag the last play-off spot.
Ivybridge finished on the same number of points as their Mid-Devon rivals, but Crediton secured the remaining place in the play-offs courtesy of one more win.
“I knew we needed a win, but we got three points and so we were trying to work out the situation,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson afterwards.
“To be fair, it was a great game. It was end-to-end.
“There was a bit of a lull probably about 10 minutes after half-time and I thought we might be able to pull away a little bit, but it was not to be.
“It was a shame really as we had loads of chances in their 22 but we just didn’t execute again.”
He added: “It was a bit of a weird feeling at the end really.
“We are not really too disappointed (about missing out on the play-offs), but I was disappointed that we didn’t win as we could have won it quite comfortably.”
Atkinson feels it has been a positive season for Ivybridge, who have had to rebuild after their relegation from Regional One South West.
“As coaches we set a few goals,” said Atkinson. “We wanted 10 wins and wanted to be 100 per cent at home, which we nearly got.
“We did complete quite a few goals, which is positive.
“A few lads were disappointed (not to make the play-offs), but on the whole most were positive about the season.”
Ivybridge scored five tries on Saturday with scrum-half James Cantin bagging two. Jack Skinner, Seb Musgrave and Adam Lilley also touched down, with Lilley’s score coming late on. Charlie Teague converted that effort to secure the draw.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
THERE were contrasting emotions for Plymstock Oaks and Saltash in the crazy battle to try and avoid relegation from Western West.
Bottom side Saltash looked like they were going to become the first team this season to beat Truro away.
They were leading 34-33 with time virtually up, but Truro won the game 40-34 with a converted try right at the death.
Oaks, meanwhile, scored a converted try seven minutes from time to narrowly beat second-placed Paignton 27-24 at Horsham Fields in their final home match.
With second-from-bottom Penryn beating fourth-from-bottom Newton Abbot 34-24 on Saturday, the battle to avoid finishing in the bottom two appears like it is going to go right down to the wire.
Saltash are five points from safety, but they will finish with home games against Penryn and Newton Abbot, while Oaks visit Newton Abbot next week.
At the moment no-one knows exactly how many teams will be relegated, only that it will be a maximum of two and a minimum of none, but everyone just wants to avoid those bottom two places.
“It could be any of the bottom four at the minute,” admitted Oaks coach Mike Lewis.
“Next week we need to beat Newton Abbot and we want Saltash to beat Penryn.
“The fact that the bottom four play each other next week is uncanny.
“It is such a silly league. We always said it was going to be tight and it’s the same every week.
“If you look at it from the top to the bottom of this league there is only probably a 10-15 per cent difference in ability.
“Everyone who has got promoted or relegated into this league this season has been about the similar ability. I think everyone has almost beaten each other.
“If we had won two more games, we would probably have been in the top half of the table.”
Lewis described Saturday’s win over second-placed Paignton as ‘phenomenal’.
“I have said it to the players and to everybody, we are a top four team, but we have just had so many injuries,” he said. “We have just been so unfortunate.
“The game before against Wiveliscombe we had 18 injuries as well as the usual unavailable players. It made it 30 players not available and it just makes it impossible to get a bit of consistency.
“We’ve just always been changing our team, and you just don’t build that consistency or camaraderie.
“This week we had a core group together and they led the rest.
“It was a brilliant result for us.
“We knew before the game we had a chance of winning, but we just had to get more things right than them.
“The game, with the wind howling, was all over the place and it really was a nail-biter, but we managed to scrape that extra score.”
Nearly all the scoring at windy Horsham Fields on Saturday took place in the first half.
Paignton changed ends 24-20 in front in an end-to-end half.
Harry Woodward, Henry Hoare (2) and Dewald Stoop scored tries for Paignton, with Brad McKee adding two conversions.
Oaks’ first half tries came from Ryan Wills, Harvey Seale and Harry Toghill, with fit-again Lewie Riley adding a conversion and a penalty.
There was no scoring in the second half until seven minutes from time when hooker Charlie Dutton went over the whitewash for Oaks and Lewis Paterson added the conversion.
Saltash, meanwhile, must be wondering how far up the table they could have been if they had just managed to turn a few of their 11 defeats by one single score into wins.
For the second time this season they were left frustrated against Truro, who had also narrowly beaten them by six points at home in December.
In windy conditions, the Ashes went in front at St Clement’s Hill after 10 minutes with full-back Ryan Cruickshanks touching down after a good move across the pitch.
But Truro, defending their unbeaten home record, came back through their forwards and drove over the Ashes line five minutes later to draw level.
Some sustained attacking led to prop forward Lial Honey forcing himself over for a try which Jack Pritchard converted to put Saltash back in front on 28 minutes.
The game was evenly balanced and a breakaway from inside their own half enabled Truro to level the score five minutes later with a converted try.
Just before the interval Fin Jones broke away for Saltash giving winger Will Morton the chance to regain their lead, only for Truro to come back and take a narrow 19-17 lead into the break.
The second half started well for Saltash, who were now playing into the wind. Skipper Jay Moriarty scored on the left wing after four minutes to again put them back into the lead and Jack Pritchard kicked the conversion.
Truro soon replied with a try and a conversion close to the posts and their mobility and good movement stretched the Ashes defence which was breached again with another converted try to make it 33-24 to the home side.
Play went from end to end and hooker Jones, who had an excellent game in the Saltash pack, went over the home line after 57 minutes to close the gap to four points and increase the tension both on and off the field.
Saltash continued to hit back with strong running spearheaded by centre Todd Crofts and again took the lead when Jones cut through the home defence allowing Moriarty to get over the line to put them one point in front.
As the game entered the final stages a much-needed win looked a possibility for Saltash, only for a late Truro effort to break their hearts with a converted try.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
DEVONPORT Services II need just one point from their remaining two home games against Dartmouth and Tavistock to secure the Counties Two Devon title after they beat Withycombe 62-20 at the Rectory on Saturday.
Services II could have won the title this weekend had second-placed Honiton not picked up a full five points against Topsham II, but they cruised to a 46-0 victory.
However, it would be a massive surprise if Services II did not win it next week against a Dartmouth side who are already relegated and currently sit on minus nine points.
Despite having to name a much-changed team, Services were always in command and Withycombe were not helped by picking up a red card in the first half, where they trailed 33-3.
Scrum-half Billy Sutton scored a hat-trick of tries for Services II, while fellow back Reece de Jersey bagged two. There were also touch-downs for Andy Pond, Yianni Costas, Jake McKenzie and Cam Donkin, with Matt Neyle and Leighton Stark adding conversions.
At the other end of the table, Ivybridge II are facing relegation after losing 33-5 at home to OPMs, who should now be safe.
Ivybridge II cannot now escape the bottom two and are set to return to Counties Three after just one season back at level eight.
If only two go down as expected, then Tavistock and OPMs are safe, but last season three teams were relegated due to the knock-on effect from leagues above.
However, it does appear that more Devon and Cornwall teams will be getting promoted rather than relegated in leagues above, so that should mean that only two do go down from Counties Two Devon.
OPMs had been out-of-form and were on a five-game losing league run ahead of Saturday’s big match against Ivybridge II on Saturday.
The Old Boys knew if they lost they would be in serious trouble, but they managed to get a strong team together for this weekend and got the win they needed.
Fred and Matt Smale played together for the first time in months and they were influential in OPMs’ win.
An incredibly strong wind at Cross-in-Hand really made good rugby difficult on Saturday and both teams struggled to handle the pressure in the first half.
Neither side could get their line-outs going and both kept kicking a lot to try and play the game in the opposition half.
OPMs did dominate the scrum and just linked up better as a team at crucial times.
Ivybridge II did not really get their game going and they were not helped by decisions going against them and some early injuries.
The home side did actually take the lead in the third minute from a scrum in OPMs’ 22. The set-piece came about as a Matt Smale clearing kick, which looked like it was going to be a great one, got blown by the wind and went dead.
From the scrum, Ivybridge went down the blindside and Harrison Legge touched down in the left corner.
Two Matt Smale penalties within the space of four minutes midway through the first half, put OPMs 6-5 up.
And with eight minutes of the half to go, OPMs extended that lead to 11-5 with a catch-and-drive try by Billy Garratt, who was throwing in at the line-outs, despite playing in the second-row.
Ivybridge thought they had scored a second try just before half-time, but they were ruled to have been held up.
OPMs did come out the stronger for the second period and replacement David Broughton came close to scoring with a good run after just a couple of minutes of being on the field.
Minutes later Matt Smale kicked a penalty to make it 14-5 before he scored a try out of almost nothing, which he also converted, to make it 21-5.
As the game went on, Ivybridge did start getting frustrated with the amount of decisions going against them and had both George Wilson and Matt Grieveson sin-binned within the space of minute. OPMs were also awarded a penalty try in the 78th minute from a five-metre scrum to put the game to bed.
Ivybridge, despite being down to 13 players, did press and did come close to scoring. OPMs did pick up a yellow card themselves for stopping them close to the line, but Ivybridge could not make their pressure tell.
And deep in injury-time, OPMs turned defence into attack and young scrum-half Will Mills scored on the right to seal the win, much to the delight of all his team-mates.
“We’re buzzing,” said OPMs head coach James Digweed afterwards.
“The boys from one to 18 were absolutely unbelievable.
“As I said to them, the pressure lifted when we got 21-5 up and everything started coming together – the scrums, the line-outs, our backs linking together.
“As soon as that pressure was off our mentality changed.
“We can compete with anyone in this league, but it’s just trying to get that switch.
“I felt this was the first time in a while that things actually went our way. I normally feel a bit hard done by with decisions, but we definitely got a few that probably weren’t the right call this week, but we’ll take it.”
Digweed was full of praise for Fred and Matt Smale and how they linked up together.
Although they should be safe, Digweed does not want his team taking any chances with two games to go.
“You can never tell with the RFU, but we have to act like three are going down and get more points,” he said.
“We have Topsham II next week and hopefully we can get a result there and then we have Crediton II.”
Tavistock dropped one point and one place below eighth-placed OPMs after they lost 34-12 away at third-placed Bideford.
Bideford have got a strong home record and Tavistock were missing a number of key players and so head coach Leigh Puttock was pleased with his side’s performance, but a bit frustrated they could not at least return with a bonus point.
“It was 12-all at half-time,” said Puttock. “And it was only in the last 10-15 minutes that they pulled away really.
“Until the final quarter of the game we were walking away with a point.
“We were very good in patches and there were some big performances from some players, but just not quite enough to walk away with any points.”
Puttock was full of praise for the way his team scrummed in north Devon.
“We did tear them to shreds in the scrum,” he said.
Oscar Slater and Chris Watts scored their tries in the first half, with Watts also adding a conversion.
If it is only two teams going down, then Tavistock will be safe.
“It is wrong that you can play a season and not know what’s happening at the end of it,” said Puttock.
“At the beginning of every season you should know what you have to do.”
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
PLYMOUTH Argaum head coach Dean Avery scored two tries on his final home appearance for the club as they drew 38-38 with fourth-placed Torquay Athletic at a windy Bickleigh Down on Saturday.
Jake Turfery also bagged two for Argaum, while Cheyanne Edwards, Stuart Giles and Ryan Tunnicliffe also touched down for the home side.
“It was a really good game,” said Avery, who is standing down as head coach at the end of the season.
“They travelled with a lot of youth in the backs and had quite a strong forward pack.
“We probably gave away tries too easily and had to work for ours, but I think 38-all was probably a fair result.
“I scored two tries on my final game at home, which was quite nice.”
He added: “The boys played with a smile on their faces and that’s what we want.
“It was a bit emotional at the end as I’ve been here four years and I’ve invested a lot of time into the club. It was nice not to lose the final home game.
“It was a little bit frustrating we just didn’t have a few more on the bench as we could have got the win. But there’s plenty to build on for whoever takes over next season.”
Third-placed Old Techs suffered a major shock as they were beaten 31-19 away at bottom side Kingsbridge II.
Champions Brixham II had been the only side to beat in-form Techs since the end of November before Saturday.
Kingsbridge II have given six walkovers to teams during the season, including only the week before, and their only previous win all season had come against a weakened Plymstock Oaks II side, who also sit in the bottom three.
But the South Hams club, who had started the weekend on minus eight points, had a strong team out this weekend, which will once again lead to some people questioning the merits of having second teams in the league structure.
“They only took 16 players with their first team to Barnstaple, but had 20 for their second team,” said Old Techs chairman David Evans.
“Nine days earlier they couldn’t get a team out to play Paignton II, who they had lost 94-5 to a few weeks ago.
“It was a little bit disappointing how it panned out, but at the end of the day, it is what it is.
“I know we had a few players missing, but we still thought we had a strong enough team to go to the side sitting 12th.”
Third-placed Techs could not even pick up a bonus point as they only managed three tries. Kieran Hurrell, Brett Tunnicliffe and Jack Williams scored their tries at High House, with Sam Matts adding two conversions.
Tamar Saracens will be hopeful of a top six finish after they beat Salcombe 35-29 at the Parkway on Saturday.
The victory leaves Sarries just three points behind sixth-placed Salcombe with two games in hand on them.
Tom Rigby, Rikki Lennon, Stefan Breedt, Harvey Tucker and Adam Coutts scored tries for Sarries in an entertaining affair.
“It was a very back-and-forth game,” said Tamar Saracens club captain Adam Corbett.
“We scored first, but then it was a case of they scored, we scored, they scored, we scored.
“They (Salcombe) had a good team out and pushed us quite hard.
“They beat us with a try in the last play when we went to them, so we did have a bit of a score to settle.
“We were just happy to come out on top this time.”
Elsewhere in the division, Plymstock Oaks II were beaten 52-17 away at Paignton II, while in Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II went down 35-20 away at already-crowned champions St Agnes.
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