Teignmouth 39 Tiverton 19

Tiverton came to town as the only side which could still spoil Teignmouth’s promotion chances, but they were sent home with their tails between their legs as so many others have been this season.
The visitors had been on a fine run of form recently, and had thrashed second-placed St Ives only 2 weeks previously, but they never looked likely to trouble a confident Teigns side. A bumper crowd were treated to a game which included ten tries as the home side took control early on and never looked in any danger.
From the word “go” the home forwards piled on the pressure, and, as so often has happened this year they took an early lead with a Will Sowden try, which Dan Force duly converted. This was Sowden’s 32nd try of the season, and few would back against him adding a few more in the coming weeks.
This was followed swiftly by a penalty try awarded when Tiverton were unable legally to stop a powerful rolling maul, and Force added his second conversion.
One of the reasons that Teignmouth sit proudly atop the Tribute Cornwall and Devon League is that they have picked up a precious bonus point in all but two of their games so far. Last Saturday that was achieved as early as the 34th minute, as their talented back division took advantage of the gaps in Tivvy’s defence, caused in no small part by the relentless pressure of the forwards with skipper Colin Aldworth leading by example as usual. Young winger Chris Sherlock and veteran centre Chris Tidman were on the end of flowing moves, both touching down in the corner.
Until this stage, spectators were scratching their heads wondering how Tiverton had managed such a comprehensive victory over St Ives. The visitors finally managed to get on the scoreboard as Rob Plume touched down and Callum Stone converted, to leave the score 24-7 in the Teigns favour at the break, but they never looked like causing another upset.
It is probably true to say that the Teigns took their foot off the gas in the second half, especially after Aldworth scored his 13th try of the season to put them out of sight with 35 minutes remaining.
Tivvy showed brief glimpses of why they lie in 3rd place, with tries from Ollie Chanin and Jack Sampson, but each time Teignmouth went up a gear to reply almost immediately with a second score from Sherlock and then the seventh and final try from lock Arron Kelly. There were some at Bitton Park who felt that this was perhaps the try of the season. Given that the Teigns have now scored 115 tries this season, this is quite a claim; but the way in which Sowden turned defence into attack with a stunning run from one 22 to the other before two smart offoads gave Kelly his chance to power over, means that few will argue.
For coach Simon Morrell this was a particularly satisfying result, as his time as Tivvy’s coach ended unhappily 3 years ago. Setting high standards for his charges, he felt that they had done enough to beat an off-colour Tiverton, and that they had stuck reasonably well to the game-plan which has worked so well all year; but he was still able to highlight areas in which the team can improve, the lineout being one glaring example.
Nevertheless, only seven more points are needed to ensure promotion mathematically, and Morrell will be expecting five of them to come this Saturday as Teignmouth take the short trip to Exeter to face bottom of the table Wessex, kick off 2.30pm.
On the social side, the club will be hosting a Past Players’ Lunch before the next home game on March 23rd. Tickets are £12 per person – for further details visit the clubhouse or ring 01626 774950.