Teignmouth 8 - 38 Newent

Hopes were high as Teignmouth entered their first-ever campaign at this level, but the final result showed that there will be plenty of hard graft ahead for the side if they are to avoid an immediate return to the Western Counties League.

While still maintaining the core of the team, coach Simon Morrell has had to act fast over the summer to reinforce his squad, partly to prepare for the challenge ahead, but also to replace key members who have left for one reason or another. The main loss has been fly-half Joe Simmonds, who will spend his season being shared between Premiership giants Exeter Chiefs and National League 2 Taunton.
The fact that Newent also won promotion last season will be a worry to fans at Bitton Park, as it is logical to assume that they will be one of the weaker teams in the league. However, last season Ivybridge won promotion from South West One after just one season, so who’s to say Newent won’t do the same?

However, it has to be said that the scoreline flattered the visitors, as the Teigns more than held their own in the set-pieces; unfortunately their performance in loose play, where they kicked the ball away far too often and showed ill-discipline in giving away a multitude of penalties, meant that they were always struggling to impose themselves.

The first half was a tight affair, with stalwart Chris Tidman giving the home side a lead early on following a determined run to the corner, but Newent led at half-time thanks to a try from number 8 Dan Fletcher and a penalty and a conversion from Ross Webb. Sam Fellows made the half-time score 8-10 with a late penalty.

The second half saw the visitors looking more and more comfortable in defending their line, and as time went on the penalty count mounted against the home side who, worse still, twice went down to 14 men Rob Parsons and Lee Williams each spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

Two Webb penalties and tries from Dominic Matthews and George Phelps gave Newent a 26-8 lead as the teams entered injury time, and that would probably have been a fair reflection of the game. Unfortunately for the Teigns, scrum-half James Dean took advantage of a tiring defence to add two further tries in added time, one of which Webb converted.

Morrell was clearly unhappy with the performance at the end, but felt that with more pre-season match practice his side would have been more prepared for the challenge ahead.

This week sees the Teigns travel to Wells; there is a limited amount of space for spectators on the coach which can be booked by contacting Nicola Roberts at the Club.