Teignmouth 56 Wessex 5

A group of German visitors sat in the stand at Bitton Park last Saturday, and at the beginning of the match seemed genuinely interested in understanding the subtler points of Rugby Union; however, the lack of a real contest meant that they soon became more interested in following the football scores from the Bundesliga on their iPhones, and one could hardly blame them.
A cursory glance at the Tribute League Table reveals that there are three separate groups in the division, with Teignmouth and St Ives opening a 10 point gap over a small group of other promotion hopefuls, and then teams like Wessex just hoping still to be in the league this time next year. An even briefer look at the results each week, with one-sided contests becoming more and more common, shows why this situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
Coach Simon Morrell is realistic enough to know that promotion will not be won or lost in games like these, and so was happy to give a few non-regulars a run out because of the unavailability of several first-teamers, but will be relieved to have a full squad to choose from when more testing opposition present themselves.
Wessex were promoted from the Tribute Devon League only last season, and have found the transformation difficult; Teignmouth made the same step up three years ago, and have steadily consolidated and now look likely to achieve their long-held ambition of promotion to the Western Counties League.
Consequently, it was no surprise when this match was effectively over as a contest after only 17 minutes, as the Teigns continued their recent habit of striking early. Firstly Will Luscombe scored a penalty after just 2 minutes, and then Will Sowden scored what must rank as one of the quickest hat-tricks of tries in the club’s history. With Luscombe converting the first and third of these, the Teigns had a 22-0 lead, and the large crowd, already in a contented mood following another successful Vice-Presidents’ lunch, settled back to see how large the final margin of victory would be.
Sowden limped off after his third try, but he was not much missed, although the scoring rate did slow somewhat, as the Wessex pack started to use their size to gain more possession.
However, on the half-hour winger Sean Lovett scored the bonus-point try which had seemed inevitable, and Luscombe was again successful with the conversion. It was therefore something of a surprise when Teignmouth got a little over-confident, and a handling error on the halfway line gave winger Scott Brown the opportunity to score a solo try. Luscombe completed the first-half scoring with another penalty, and the sides turned round with the home side leading 32-5.
The visitors came into the game more in the second half, as their powerful forwards started to control possession, but they rarely threatened to close the gap, and whenever they lost possession, they seemed to be punished by the Teigns’ lively back-row and backs.
Firstly youngster Jamie Gray pounced, followed shortly afterwards by centre Chris Tidman, with Luscombe converting both tries. Flanker Jake Allison, who was recently promoted from the second team, then had an interesting ten minute spell; after upsetting the Wessex captain, he then ran in a try before receiving a yellow card, his second in successive weeks, for handling in the ruck. Full-back Dan Force then had to take over at scrum-half as Stef Walker was pole-axed in an incident which was missed by the referee, but which clearly annoyed the home captain Colin Aldworth. Force completed the scoring, before Aldworth himself suffered a facial injury which did nothing to improve his mood. With the match threatening to deteriorate into a brawl the referee seemed to blow up for full time a few minutes early.
This week sees the First XV having a short break to recover from the niggling injuries which are inevitable in a full-contact sport. Morrell knows that next week he will need a full squad available, as an away game against Crediton should prove a much greater test.