TEIGNMOUTH 36 NEWQUAY HORNETS 17

Teignmouth’s promising start to the season continued last Saturday at Bitton Park with impressive victory against relegated Newquay. This was a game which the coach Simon Morrell believed would give a good indication of the team’s chances of becoming involved in a promotion battle this year, and the ease with which the Teigns overcame the Cornishmen will only add to the feeling of optimism around the club at the moment.
There was little indication that this was going to be a high-scoring match in the first 30 minutes, as a combination of a strong wind and constant interruptions to play frustrated players in their efforts to play fluent running rugby. The packs of both sides were evenly matched and tended to cancel each other out, although in the set scrums Teignmouth were on top as they used better technique to turn the ball over on several occasions.
Nevertheless, most of the game was being played in Teignmouth’s half, and so it wasn’t a complete surprise when the Hornets’ scrum half Connor Riley ran in the first try of the game on the half hour. The visitors fly half, Matt Ansley, proved a reliable kicker all afternoon, and added the conversion.
This setback seemed to provide just the spur that the Teigns needed, as within two minutes Dan Force raced through a non-existent Cornish defence to score under the posts, making his own conversion kick a formality.
The home side continued to force the pace in what remained of the first half, and were rewarded when Jake Bury ran the ball in from 20 meters, again thanks to a large gap in the middle of the Hornets’ back line. Force added the 2 points and the teams turned round with the Teigns leading 14-7.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw Teignmouth pile on the pressure and the points and put to bed any possibility of a Cornish comeback. Firstly Newquay were penalised on their own 22 and Force kicked the penalty with ease. Then Teignmouth’s talented backs began to take full advantage of the Hornet’s defensive frailities, as centre Will Sowden ran in 2 tries and set up winger Callum Couch for one. Force managed to convert two of these, whilst Newquay could only respond with a penalty of their own.
And so, after 65 minutes the match was effectively over as a contest. Coach Morrell felt that the team started to get over excited and forgot the disciplined approach which had served them so well in the first hour. This gave the visitors the opportunity to set up a rolling maul which ended with Phil Corns touching down and Ansley converting.
However Morrell was delighted at the end of the match that the hard work which he and the squad have been doing on the training pitch was bearing fruit in matches, and he gave special praise to the forwards who did the graft to provide the opportunities for the backs.
Teignmouth face a long and potentially difficult trip to Penzance Pirates Amateurs this Saturday.