A large contingent of Teignmouth supporters left Somerset with mixed feelings last Saturday,

At the beginning of September, coach Simon Morrell had described this season as one of consolidation, but the Teigns’ early results had seen them rise to second place in the table behind their hosts, and Burnham’s celebrations at the final whistle showed how seriously they took their visitors.

The first 10 minutes did not bode well for Teignmouth; some clever kicking from fly-half Piper saw the visitors’ defence in trouble and the result was two tries from Tuttiett and Love in the corner.

However, Teignmouth refused to panic, and slowly but surely came back into the game with some strong forward play, especially in the loose. Mike Saxton got them on the scoreboard with a penalty which was soon cancelled out by one from Piper, but the final quarter of an hour saw the visitors take complete control.

The home supporters were stunned as Teignmouth ran in three tries through Chris Tidman, skipper Colin Aldworth and Will Sowden. Saxton converted two of the tries, and Teignmouth reached the interval with a well-deserved 22-13 lead.

Unfortunately, just before the break a controversial refereeing decision saw scrum-half Neil Johns sin-binned, and although the Teigns managed to see out the first ten minutes of the second half without conceding, the physical effort required had a telling effect. Within minutes of Johns’s return the Teigns’ defence was forced to concede a penalty try, which Piper converted. The Stags’ fly-half then scored two tries of his own, both of which he converted, and the home side were almost out of sight.

Almost, but not quite. To their immense credit, Teignmouth rallied strongly in the final quarter of an hour, and were rewarded in injury time with a second Sowden try which Saxton converted. This not only sewed up a bonus point for the fourth try, but also a losing bonus point for reducing the margin to five points.

Morrell felt that leaving Burnham with 2 points was a feat which probably would not be equalled by many teams this season, and although he identified certain areas, such as kicking from hand and scrummaging, where his side needed to make improvements, overall he was delighted with the effort they had shown, and he felt that with an extra 5 minutes victory would have been theirs.

Teignmouth will be hoping that injuries to Sowden and Tidman will have cleared by tomorrow for the hugely anticipated visit of Torquay Athletic. Kick off at Bitton Park is at 3pm, and a large crowd is expected.

Report By: Paul Williams

Photo: Lorna Gray