TEIGNMOUTH 67 PLYMOUTH BARBARIANS 0

Sports’ coaches often get accused of speaking in clichés, so there may be a few wry smiles around Bitton Park this week as Teignmouth’s coach, Simon Morrell, followed up this fifth consecutive bonus point victory with the assertion that now is the time to “draw a line in the sand”. However, it is easy to see why he remains cautious as the Teigns opened up a six point lead at the top of the league.
A quick look at the league table show that all five victories have come against teams from the lower reaches, and another look at the upcoming fixture list shows that October will be a far more challenging proposition than September has been.
Nevertheless, another sporting cliché tells us that “you can only beat what’s put in front of you”, and Teignmouth have certainly done that in the past five weeks, with every game being over as a contest long before the end.
Last Saturday was a case in point, as Teignmouth gave a commanding performance against bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Barbarians. Sadly there have been several no-contests in this league so far this year; it seems that the division is split into two mini-leagues, with clubs like the Barbarians thinking only of safety from relegation, while the Teigns find themselves in a group of six or seven clubs desperate to fight their way out of the league in the opposite direction.
In the first 35 minutes it would be true to say that the only time the visitors managed to get into the Teigns’ half was when they kicked off after scores by the home side, and the only surprise at half-time was that the home side only led 22-0 at the break. The Barbarians were clearly set up to frustrate Teignmouth and defended tenaciously. However, three tries were scored, with winger Dan Force, centre Will Sowden and back row Ben Parrett crossing the line. Will Luscombe returned to kicking form with a penalty and two conversions.
Given the effort the visitors expended on keeping the score down to a reasonable level, it was reassonable to suppose that they would tire eventually, and sure enough, the second half became a procession. In the first ten minutes after the break scrum half Stef Walker scored with a sniping run from close range, before replacement Mark Annal, who had only joined the action a minute or so earlier added a fifth try. Luscombe converted both.
At this stage, the visitors were becoming a very tired and dispirited bunch; even when they won a penalty right in front of the posts on the 22, they managed to miss. But Teignmouth, even though the victory and bonus points were already in the bag, realised that at the end of the season points difference could make the difference, piled the agony on with five more tries.
Force completed his hat-trick with tries in the 60th and 73rd minutes, and between those two scores one of the more remarkable stories of the club’s season saw another chapter written as skipper and lock Colin Aldworth kept up his record of scoring in every game with his fifth and sixth tries. Sowden completed the rout two minutes before the end, while Luscombe kicked three more conversions.
So, a line is drawn and one of the most important months in the 138 year history of the Club is on the horizon, with trips to Saltash and Tiverton, and home matches against St Ives and Withycombe, all four of whom should be in the promotion shake-up at the end of the season. This testing period begins this Saturday with a trip across the Tamar to fifth-placed Saltash.