After a week off, the firsts take on Lydney, who lie mid-table in sixth. I suspect we all presumed a win, but as we know, and as my Mother always said, “Never presume anything”
After a difficult week with the weather, The Rectory was likely to be out and also the Creek. Then the Seconds, who were playing Tavistock in a Lockie cup semi final on the Keyham, were moved to 1 pm and the firsts put on afterwards at 3 pm.
It had been drizzling for part of the second team game, but then the sun came beaming out in time for the firsts' kick off.

The start was not ideal; we gave away a kickable penalty inside a minute or so, and Charli Beddis kicked it to take the lead.
Fortunately, five minutes late,r they too gave away a kickable penalty midfield in their twenty-two when their front row went up, and Sam Brown put it over. 3~3.
Not long after that, Lydney kicked for a simple second penalty; the ball sort of went over the top of the roadside post. After a bit of a delay, referee Emily Hope said it didn’t go over.
Then we scored the first try, we got into their half with Shaun Crawford having a good run to get into their twenty-two, Billy Sutton had a weaving run then the ball went to the right wing and to Charlie Groves, with the touchline tight and his enemy, he had three defenders to beat, and with some weak tacking to help he dived over in the corner by the bijou changing rooms.
The Sam Brown kick was not easy, out wide, it missed. 8~3.
The game was even, with Lydney attacking fitfully and we having to defend. The scrums were sort of even, but in one, we pushed them back the length of a scrum.
On thirty minutes we pulled a little further away, winning a penalty, we kicked for a lineout on half way took it and mauled for a few moments and then to the backs and eventually a long pass from Toby Knowles to Charlie Groves who sped in on the left wing a diving defenders tackle right on the line could not stop him scoring in the corner. The conversion attempt just shaved the near side post.13~3.
Lydney very nearly scored, getting to a couple of feet from our line with their forwards, but our forwards put in a supreme effort and comprehensively drove them off and cleared our lines.
Getting towards half time, we scored again, from the far end of the pitch. It looked like they had a lineout inside their twenty-two, threw long and lost it, we took it and played it towards their posts, then out to Richard-Goldsby-West, who chipped through a gap and ran in after it and touched down. Sam Brown converted. 20~3.
From the restart, a long kick out was fielded right on the sidelines and ran back at us, after a few hands, it got to Tomos Rowe who, from well outside our twenty-two, ran diagonally, slipped one tackle and outpaced the defence to score in the corner on the roadside surgery end. The conversion attempt rattled the nearside post and fell dead.
20~8.

Then we had three five yard lineouts after they gave away penalties on their line, but they defended well and we got nothing out of them, eventually they stole the ball and kicked clear.
Right on half time, they won a lineout on the street side half way, took it and played across the field attacked a few times, then to the left wing, who did well to run in from the twenty-two to score by the flag. The conversion missed and that was half time. 20~13.
Probably closer than we would have liked it or it should have been, but they did defended their line well and scored two good tries, the first an excellent lone effort.

We kicked off the second half playing toward the surgery. They attacked fitfully and got to our line. We defended it well and pushed them back to our twenty-two, but they won a penalty that they kicked to add three points. 20~16.
Then we scored our bonus point try from a midfield scrum on their twenty-two, we pushed them back a few feet, then went to the left and a fast run in from James Hocking from ten feet inside their twenty-two to score in the corner, the conversion looked like it was going over but curved just wide. 25~16.
Mat Gregory and Lydney's Harvey Heaven were yellow carded for something I couldn’t see.
Then we got to their line and won a scum, Billy Sutton took it off the back and tried to go blind but was just pushed into touch. They won the lineout and tried to play of but Kyle Felton stole it and had a short run diagonally towards their line, but was stopped just short, it went back to Richard Goldsby-West, a perfect long chip to the right hand corner found Toby Knowles almost waiting for it over the try line, he jumped for it and touched down.
30~16. The conversion missed.

Then we won a penalty on their twenty-two midfield, Sam Brown kicked it over to take the score to 33~16.
Then, closing in on the end, they played out a long kick from their twenty-two but gave away a penalty, we kicked for a five yard lineout on the street side. won it and put it, mauled toward the line, stopped we put its to the backs, one of them took it a speed but was stopped short of the line, a ruck formed, Billy Sutton took the ball from the back, swivelled as if to pass it to the backs, the defence was fooled, took their eye off him, and he fell to the ground over the try line to score.
The Sam Brown conversion was easy. 40~16.

In attack we kicked high into their twenty-two, they ‘marked’ it and had a good run down the right wing then further in another move, then across the field and two of their players did an in and out getting halfway across our twenty-two but gave away a penalty, One of their players must have said something, out of the referees pocket came the yellow card, off he went, Richard Goldsby-West tapped the ball to himself and kicked out for full time.
The shortest yellow card ever.

Lydney gave their best, we were probably a little scrappy here and there, but having said that scored some really good tries. The pick for me for entertainment was Billy Sutton’s cheeky try and the perfect cross-field kick and Toby Knowles’ try.

The Firsts.

1. Tyler Busfield. P.I.M. Financial Services.
2. Rob Walsh. NESC Ltd.
3. Oli Symons. Greenlight Safety consultants Ltd.
4. Kyle Felton. Plym Pat Testing
5. Mike Rickard. Pon Nic properties.
6. Freddie Dover. Invisible to Invincible
7. Liam Jarvis. Steel Brew
8. Matt Gregory (c). HSK Building Services.
9. Billy Sutton. Plym Pat Testing.
10. Sam Brown. Eden Clinic.
11. James Hocking. Redmoor snacks
12. Richard Goldsby-West. (c). Smashland Burgers.
13. Shaun Crawford. Plym Pat Testing.
14. Toby Knowles. AMH Building & Renovation Ltd.
15. Charlie Groves. Journeaux accountancy
16. Harri Hayman.
17. Josh Martin. JML Bricklaying
18. Luke Stannard. Nordic Installations Ltd

The Management.
Ben Russell.
Aiden Taylor.

The Colts' match report.
Close call for Colts.

The Colts dipped by one point to a last minute penalty at Oaks 23 -22, in most definitely a game of 2 halves.
A combination of lateness, low energy and attitude were factors in a very poor start. Oaks started strongly, dominating territory and possession and were clearly in the mood for a win. 4 minutes in, a penalty at the breakdown gave Oaks a kick to the corner. A well executed lineout catch and drive, and the first points were on the board, 5 -0.
The pattern continued after the restart, Oaks launching attack after attack with some strong runners and creative plays, which kept us pinned under pressure in our 22. Probably a bit shell-shocked at this point, we defended well and coupled with some handling errors, Oaks couldn’t increase the lead. They got over the line but were held up.
From the goal line drop out, we kicked long but didn’t chase the kick, gifting Oaks space and the entire width to attack. They took their chance, and three phases later, they crashed over wide out. The conversion didn’t make it, but the score now sat at 10 -0, and it looked like a big score was on the cards.
At this point, I think it’s fair to say, Oaks had woken us up a bit, and we realised we were in a game. That, with perhaps some overconfidence from Oaks, changed the game a little.
Oaks making more mistakes and giving us opportunities to attack. We managed to force our way into their 22 and retain the ball for several phases. With Oaks under pressure, and infringing at the ruck, scrum half Harry Jones, who looked lively all game, scuttled through a gap but was tackled early and high, preventing him from touching down, so the ref ran under the sticks to award first a penalty try and second a yellow card for the offending player.to reduce the gap, 10 - 7.
Just before half time, another period of Oaks pressure saw them held up over the line for another goal line drop out.
For some reason, we elected to kick long again, and Oaks once more had room to attack. A back row player fielded the ball and “ran it straight” towards our posts. Our second row, Nathan Harvey met him head-on and put in a huge hit to stop the first attack, but Oaks had too many players in support and after a couple of quick phases, went over again to end the first half 15 - 7.

Some strong words and substitutions at halftime seemed to do the trick, and we got off to a good start.
Harry Jones got the touchdown after an Oaks penalty gave us an attacking lineout in their 22, and Oaks were now starting to look concerned at 15 - 12. The game was stuck in the middle third for a while, with some big hits being exchanged as both sides did their best to get the next score. It was Oaks that broke the deadlock after a great period of defence by our lads 5metres out. Eventually, we just ran out of numbers, and Oaks moved the ball quickly wide to touch down in the corner, 20 -12.
From the kick off, we managed to keep them inside their half with more good defence, forcing them to kick long. This pattern continued until a slightly wayward kick led to a counterattack opportunity. We moved the ball wide to Freddie Ticehurst, who had too much pace for the covering defenders and scorched down the touchline to grab one back, 20 -17.
With 10 minutes to play, we threw everything at Oaks and after some good build up play, the impressive Harry Enticknap burst through 2 defenders to score and nudge us ahead 20 -22.
An error at the resulting kick off gave Oaks a final chance to attack, and with time up, we were penalised at the breakdown in front of the posts. As the kick sailed over, the ref blew the final whistle 23 -22 to Oaks.
A good game in parts and probably a fair result.
For the players, a clear lesson. Events and attitude before a match will directly affect performance. Something to work on before the next game !!!

Notable performances from Harry Jones, Cosmo Searls and Nathan Harvey.
MOTM. Harry Enticknap, great performance all round in attack and defence and a well taken try.

Moley