Teignmouth returned to winning ways at Bitton Park last Saturday

It is often said that revenge is a dish best served cold; well this particular recipe had been stewing for some seven months, as the Teigns felt they had been unlucky to lose twice to the Cornishmen during last year’s otherwise imperious league campaign.
St Ives may have lost several of their most valued players during the summer, but Teignmouth have continued to progress during 2013. So there was little surprise at the margin of the victory as the home forwards ground down their opposition in the early stages allowing the backs eventually to run riot in a five-try performance that resulted in Teignmouth moving up to second spot in the Western counties League.
From the first whistle skipper Colin Aldworth and the rest of the pack put the Hakes on the back foot, and it was only a matter of time before the scoreboard started ticking over. On a wet and windy day Dan Force had one of those days that kickers dream of; firstly he scored a penalty in the 5th minute as the visitors’ defence were caught offside, and the he converted Neil Johns’ opportunistic try ten minutes later.
Although Jamie Frisk got three points back on St Ives’ first visit to Teignmouth’s half, their defence were only able to keep the home side out by resorting to foul means, which enable Force to add 3 more penalties before half time, giving his side a comfortable 19-3 lead at the break.
It was fairly clear that the Cornishmen were not going to be able to keep up their resistance throughout the second half as the conditions and the Devonian pressure wore them down. So it was no surprise that the Teigns’ talented back line got the taste for blood as the game wore on, and ran in four more tries through Joe Woolnough (2), Chris Tidman, and Will Sowden. It was only the last of these that Force failed to convert, leaving him with a persona tally of 20 points at full time.
For the first time this season coach Simon Morrell found it difficult to fault any aspect his team’s performance, and was delighted that the memory of those two defeats last season had been, at least partially, erased. There is no doubt that the squad are showing real signs of being able to cope in company they have never experienced before, although no-one at the club is being fooled by the early season league table.
This week sees the first of two difficult away matches as the Teigns travel to Tavistock, before tackling unbeaten Burnham-on-Sea next week. After those two encounters we should have a much clearer idea of what can be expected this season.

Report Written by: Paul Williams