A very sad start to the match today, with the club flag flying at half mast, we held a minute’s silence for Tiny Lister who passed away earlier in the week.

This was a match we had hoped to win. Old Redcliffians were eighth in the table at the start of the afternoon. We were within five minutes or so of getting a draw, then a minute or two of getting a losing bonus point, but right at the end we did neither. Truth be told, we could have won. It was a close game.

The game started evenly but with us under some pressure and having to defend well.
The first score came with an attack by Old Reds down the clubhouse side and towards the school. The ball carrier chipped through towards the scoreboard corner. There was a race for the ball as it went over the line. The referee didn’t award a try straight away, but consulted his linesman. Eventually, he blew and went under the posts for a penalty try, then gave Sam Brown a yellow card. Some nearby experts felt the yellow card was right but the penalty try not. That may have been so, but the referee made the final decision.
0~7.
We held out lots of very fast attacks for the next twelve minutes before they broke through again. They won a penalty and went for a close-in line-out. They took the ball and reasonably easily got close to our line. The maul was stopped, and the ball carrier and one of his mates burst out from the front of the maul and dived in low to score by the scoreboard. The conversion missed. 0~12 on twenty-one minutes.
Not long afterwards, we thought we had scored after catch and drive on the stand side with peel-off on the blindside and a dive over by the turnstile corner. Cheers all round until the try was disallowed. I think his foot must have just been in touch, and he went for the line.

Ten minutes later, and we did open our scoring. A penalty and a catch and drive from halfway across their twenty-two, ambled slowly for the line. The defenders were threatening to stop it, so it went along the line, then came back to end with Charlie Groves, who, with the ball tightly held in both hands to his chest, burst through two defenders to score. Sam Brown’s conversion from a quarter of the way in from the sideline missed. 5~12.
Then, into the seventh minute of injury time, they scored. We had a line out in their twenty-two. I was talking to someone, so I missed what happened. I would guess a ‘Not straight’.
From the resulting scrum, they attacked, and with the ball going through a few hands, Will Blowers dove and rolled over at the turnstile corner. Zac Tomlin’s conversion went over. So, at half time, the score stood at 5~19 in the eighth minute of extra time.
Not an impossible lead to catch, but we were under a little pressure in the scrums, not seriously, but annoyingly. We did hold them, just, now and again. Our lineouts were not perfect, whereas theirs were perfect.

And so the second half started with us now playing towards the school. Three minutes in, we scored a heartening try. When you are behind, all tries are heartening.
We went for a catch and drive, mauled slowly towards their line, then the ball came out and through two hands ended with Henry Clement diving for the try with a long reach, near the posts and on the stand side. Sam Brown’s conversion went over. 12~19.
We had started to play better as the half went on, both sides defending and attacking, so we were more in the game. We got close to their line a few times. At one point, Ethan Hilland had a nice low run at the line but was stopped.
Thus, on the sixty-sixth minute, we scored our third try when Fergus Wood also went over near the post following a catch and drive. Sam Brown converted, and the score stood at 19~19.
Our second half was going well.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later, they won a penalty and kicked long. Again, I was not paying attention, but when I looked around, their player, Tom McLean, was diving over by the turnstile corner flag. My guess is that they threw short to the front of the line, and a short run-in took everyone by surprise, and he went over unchallenged. The Zac Tomlin conversion went over. 19~26.
Thus, with only ten minutes to go, we could have held out for a losing bonus point, at the worst, or a converted try to go back to a draw.
It didn’t work out that way. On minute seventy-five, Harry Pickett collected our second yellow card.
We did get close to their line a couple of times but could make nothing of it.
Then right-on full time, they scored the final try of the game following a catch and drive that reasonably easily went to our line, but it took a bit of wrestling before Tom McLean managed to just squeeze the ball over the line for his second. The Zac Tomlin conversion went over. 19~33.
A sad end to the game after we had come back so well in the second half.
The scrums remain as they were, with them just on top. Our mauls were ok, and on one occasion, mauled quite a long way in open play, unfortunately nowhere near their try line.
We did seem to give away rather a lot of penalties, and to my mind, as a person who has only played half a dozen rugby matches but watched lots, sometimes I felt we kicked the ball away too often, box kicks being my personal dislike because more often than not, you give the ball to them. We do have the fast runners to run at them.
Next week, we are away to Clifton, who are fifth in the table.

The First team.
1. Callum Arnold. Hartley Dental Practice Ltd
2. Rob Walsh. NESC Ltd.
3. Yianni Costas. Denholm Industrial Services Ltd.
4. Lewis Woolaway. ABS.
5. Harry Hayman.
6. Fin White. World pizza.
7. Henry Gascoyne. Hunts cider
8. Tom Davies. Pantheon Plymouth
9. Henry Clement (VC). ABS.
10. Sam Brown. (C). Pantheon Plymouth.
11. Harry Pickett. The Vine.
12. Shaun Crawford.Plym Pat Testing Ltd.
13. Fergus Wood. A Star Access Ltd.
14. Billy Orchard. Taproom.
15. Charlie Groves. Journeaux Tax+ Accounts.
16. Ethan Hilland. Services Design Solution Ltd.
17. James McFarlane. Manor Garage Plymouth Ltd.
18. Archie Gray. Annabel's Cabaret and Discotheque.
19. Ben Whysall. Derek Windsor.
20. Harry Morris.
Head coach. Ben Russell.

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Two tries by Stu Giles.

The Second team.
1. Josh Martin. Jerry Josee & Ocean City sound
2. Stu Giles.
3. Mike Kelly. Hydref Accounting Ltd.
4. Aaron Duffield.
5. Cam McDonald.
6. Will Pooley. KWRS roofing Ltd.
7. Fred Rees
8. Elliott Lupson (c). SA Safety Ltd.
9. Billy Sutton. Plym Pat testing.
10. Issac Venner. Bailey Partnership.
11. Brad Lumley. RL Tiling.
12. Flynn Reeves. Mr Builder Co, SW Ltd.
13. Dan Golstone.
14. Jacob Price. RL Tiling Ltd.
15. Luke Stannard. Tamar Coaches Ltd.
16. Sam Winfield.
17. IsiKeli Karikaritu.
18. Sam Fincham (VC). Servern Access Ltd.
Team managers. Mr Dickie Duffield, Esq. and Steve Hilland.

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Tries by:
Delvin Skinner.
Cieran Poat. Con. Olly Mytton.
Dan Chugg, Con. Olly Mytton.
Cieran Poat.
Stu ?. Con. Olly Mytton.

The Third team.
1. George Burnard.
2. Alex Hannah.
3. Jason Money. Green Spinnaker Ltd.
4. Will Holifield.
5. Dan Chugg.
6. Steve Wells.
7. Liam Phillips.
8. Ross Taylor. TDC Neckwear Ltd.
9. Rohan Johnson.
10. Matt Witcher.
11. Delvin Skinner.
12. Cieran Poat.
13. Harry Entiknap. CTSW Skills Ltd.
14. David Seales.
15. Ollie Mytton.
16. Iain Nichol.
17. Jonny Barnes. A Star Access.
The Managr's; Matt Storey & Sam Winfield.

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The score well into the second half was 21~3. Brixham came back with three tries but fortunately no conversions to make it 21~18.
Right at the end, in the last few minutes they scored what they and their coaching staff and supporters thought was the winning try, loud cheers rang out. 21~23, conversion missed.
I missed the end but equally loud cheers signalled that we had worked down the pitch as the last seconds ticked away, and won a penalty that Oliver Flowers had kicked over to pull off the win.
Brixham did well to pull back those tries and nearly win.
Scored in order.
Try. Oliver Flowers.Con. Oliver Flowers.
Try. Ashton Powell. Con. Oliver Flowers.
Try. Dan Lindsey. Oliver Flowers.
Penalty. Oliver Flowers
The Colts team
1. Rob O'Neil.
2. Cohan Robinson.
3. Tom Williams.
4. Nathan Harvey (c).
5. Charlie Craven.
6. Harris Stewart.
7. Emerson Andrews. Advanced Fire Protection (SW) Ltd.
8. Guy Slavin.
9. Jake Whysall.
10. Jacob Bratt.
11. Will Bowden.
12. Dan Lindsay.
13. Oliver Flowers.
14. Liam Furze.
15. Ashton Powell. Absolute Plumbing and Heating.
16. Nathan Lumley. RL Tiling.
17. Joel Medland-Fisher.
18. Ellis Briggs.
19. Zac Sausse.
20. Henry Addison.
Coaches: Steve Mole & Rocky Young.