Avonmouth Old Boys' 71 - 5 Teignmouth

Teignmouth’s poor start to the season went from bad to worse last week as the Teigns travelled to Bristol with a much-weakened side and came away with a heavy defeat.

Thanks to several long-term injuries and even more players unable to play due to prior engagements, only eight regular first teamers took the trip up the M5. Fortunately the visitors managed to take a full complement of players and replacements, unlike on their previous away day when only 13 travelled to Camborne. This was because several second teamers filled in the gaps, and coach Simon Morrell and the rest of the management team were rightly full of praise for their efforts. Ideally, of course, the lads from the Seconds would be introduced one or two at a time, but needs must with the already small Firsts’ squad depleted even further.

The writing was on the wall as early as the seventh minute, by which time the Teigns’ front row was further reduced by a yellow card and an injury. The result was a try from Avonmouth’s prop Ash Challenger, a feat which he repeated twice more before the half-hour as the home side stormed into a 33-0 lead by half-time.

The front-row injury woes got worse as first Sonny Rowe and then Jack Darragh had to leave the pitch, leading to a continuous re-shuffling of the pack.

Things improved in the second half as stability in the forwards was restored, and youngster Dom Twine benefitted by scoring in the corner five minutes after the break.

Indeed, up to the 70th minute the visitors took the Avonmouth pack on and the newcomers to the side started to gain some confidence. Unfortunately the effort involved, plus a second yellow card, again for dissent, meant that eventually they ran out of gas and the home side ran in five tries in the last ten minutes.

Morrell acknowledged that his team’s effort up to those last ten minutes, and picked out the non-regulars for special praise. He felt that the Teigns got the rough end of many of the referee’s decisions, but more than once this season he has bemoaned the lack of discipline which keeps costing points and cards, and he will have to keep working on this area if they are to drag themselves out of the relegation zone.

Thanks to the Rugby World Cup Final both Firsts and Seconds have a chance to put their feet up and lick their wounds this week, but if you fancy watching Australia play New Zealand in HD on the club’s new big screen, and with a glass in your hand, come on down to Bitton Park for a 4pm kick-off.