Having lost away to Ivybridge earlier in the season to the last play of the game we were keen to make sure of a win this time.
On an occasionally lightly drizzly afternoon with a breeze that came and went coming from the northeast, the Rectory had probably the largest crowd for many a year estimated at a thousand.
Today we have the girls and boys of the under 9s helping on the sidelines. Thanks to their parents and coaches for looking after them.

Ivybridge kicked off to us playing towards the turnstiles. The first eighteen minutes were all ours with Ivybridge on the back foot having to defend which they did really well.
We won a series of penalties and in some took the scrums and from the start were pushing them back, not seriously but clearly enough to show we were on top.
On nineteen minutes we scored the opening try after attacking across the field and down the stand side, a deliberate knock-on by defender Sam Brown as we got closer to the line and the referee blew and ran under the crossbar to signal a penalty try. 7~0, to make matters worse for Ivybridge Sam Brown had dealt a yellow card.
On twenty-five minutes a second try started in our half by Matt Opie then a couple of others taking it on just about halfway it got to Tom Davies who managed to wriggle away from tacklers and approaching their twenty-two was able to spring clear of chasers, close to the line an attempted ankle tackle failed and he went in under the crossbar. Richard Goldsby-West had a simple conversion to make it 14~0.
On twenty-seven minutes Ivybridge’s Matt Finn, I think, picked up a yellow card.
Closing in on half time the pack had a catch and drive by the turnstile corner with Rikki Bentham the try scorer, from the restart almost another try to us this time Luke Stannard the scorer running in from the halfway line, a couple of defenders raced across to try and stop him but didn’t quite make it. Richard Goldsby-West added the conversion to make it 26~0.
In the last five minutes, Ivybridge picked up and forced us to defend to keep them out.
Ivybridge nearly scored as halftime came, a long kick gave them a lineout on the stand side, they played it across the field but infringed in some way as they closed in on the line.
That was it for the half, a healthy 26~0 lead.
For some reason both teams went into the changing room during the break.
Our scrums were on top, and the lineouts working well. The Ivybridge lineout was not to their usual standard knocking the ball on three times on their own throws.

We kicked off the second half to Ivybridge, they must have had a stiff talking to at the break because they started the half with a bang scoring inside three minutes when Charlie Teague went over in the entrance corner after a cross-field move, the conversion fell short. 26~5.
We had two try chances one when Luke Stannard nearly got in by the scoreboard a flying tackle by the defender slid him towards the touchline, and he popped the ball up to Joe Daley who was following up and went over. The referee had a short discussion with the Ivybridge linesman and decided Luke had touched the sideline with his foot in the tackle.
Then Tom Richards got close to the posts after Tom Davies started a midfield run passing it to Tom who slipped a tackle but was just stopped short, from it we nearly scored but infringed and Ivybridge kicked away.
Ten minutes later they scored again attacking from halfway on the club side Sam Brown kicked ahead for the corner, Luke Stannard tried to field the ball but it bounced unkindly and Sam Brown was able to gather it over the line and score. Conversion missed. 26~10.
Twenty-one minutes a yellow card to Richard Goldsby-West for, I think, knocking the ball down and forwards out of the Ivybridge scrumhalf’s hands for the second time.
Shortly after that Ivybridge scored their third when Charlie Briant went in close to the posts to give Matt Grieveson an easy conversion. 26~17. Though most people in the ground felt he was short, short or not the referee awarded it.
What had looked like a comfortable lead had suddenly gone wobbly with Ivy narrowing it to nine points.
Normal service was just about resumed when Matt Opie scored, we were attacking across the field towards the stand side school end, a chip through to the corner was not taken by the defending winger and Matt Opie was able to clean up and make a few yards to score. 31~17. Conversion missed. That eased the pressure slightly and slowed Ivybridge’s momentum.
Twenty-six minutes a yellow card to Tom Davies and one of their players, so we now have two off and they one.
Just after that Ivy again closed the gap when Sam Furz scored, from a distance I thought we had won a lineout by the turnstiles but must have lost it because Ivybridge started playing across the field with Sam Furze running in by the entrance corner, Tom Davies, now back on, got to him and looked, from the photos, like he might have rolled him over in the act of scoring, but I suspect it likely there is a missing potential photo frame or two where he touched down before being rolled. The conversion was missed. 31~22.
On the half hour we again cancelled out their score with a forward drive over Aiden Taylor the try scorer, and Matt Opie converted. 38~22. It was all getting bit breathless.
Thirty-six minutes a catch and drive try by Ivybridge with Cameron Dale scoring and Sam Brown converting. 38~29.

With the clock quickly running down to full time, it now looked beyond Ivybridge to win,
Richard Goldsby-West had an easy penalty attempt but the ball may have started to fall off the tee and it hardly got six feet off the ground and went under the crossbar.

From the restart we took the ball on, Aiden Taylor broke down the blindside and chipped towards the posts from just inside their half, Dylan Daley quickly followed up, and again an unkindly bounce for him saved Ivybridge from giving away another try when their defender was able to touch it down safely over the try line.
Andy Pond dived to intercept a break-out long pass on their twenty-two but, they infringed and gave away another kickable penalty, this time Matt Gregory held the ball while Richard-Goldsby-West kicked it and it went over. 41~29.
With that, the referee blew for full-time.
Great joy amongst our players and supporters. The Ivybridge players and supporters would rather they had been cheering but can be pleased with their try bonus point and in preventing what could have been a big scoring loss with some good tries.
Luke Stannard was voted as the Nigel Chivell memorial man of the match.
Looking at the photos I thought Aiden Taylor also had a great game popping up everywhere and making a real nuisance of himself.
The clubhouse was heaving both before and afterwards with our former players day players and supporters from both sides, everyone enjoying a drink after an exciting and reasonably close game.
There were supporters and former players who would normally go and watch Plymouth Albion there and I and sure that they went away realising that good quality rugby is being played a The Rectory.
For us in particular and for grassroots rugby in general, who would want to go and watch a six nations game when you can watch rugby of this quality for the price of a program.

Thanks to Jo Hocking for her excellent photos and thanks for covering some of the matches I can't make.

The Team.
!. Rikki Bentham.
2. Aiden Taylor.
3. Joe Daley.
4. Andy Pond.
5. Mike Rickard.
6. James Hocking.
7. Liam Jarvis.
8. Matt Gregory (C).
9. Lewie Riley.
10. Richard Goldsby-West.
11. Tom Davies.
12. Tom Richards.
13. Shaun Crawford.
14. Luke Stannard.
15. Matt Opie.
16. Jonah Moore.
17. Oli Symons.
18. Dylan Daley.

Coach. Ben Russell.
Admin. Kieran Leach.