REGIONAL 2 TRIBUTE SOUTH WEST

Teignmouth RFC 8-13 Newton Abbot

ON A sunny Saturday afternoon at Bitton Park, Newton Abbot RFC tasted sweet revenge against their local rivals Teignmouth, having lost 24-7 at Rackerhayes back in Mid-November.

This time around, a low-scoring first half was dominated by the Newton Abbot All Whites as they made regular trips into the opposing 22, yet only had three points to show for it at half-time, Tom Steer slotting a penalty in front of the posts. Chance after chance was wasted by either giving away a penalty or giving away the possession.

A solitary attack for Teignmouth nearly proved effective, the hosts toiling away in the corner and All Whites captain George Heath receiving a yellow card as a result. Despite the man disadvantage, resolute defending saw Newton retain their slender lend at the half, a sentiment echoed by Jake Monnington who took on a coaching role for this one: “The team performance in defence was truly top class.”

Meanwhile, Teignmouth coach Colin Stewart, who was a mainstay in the Newton 1st XV in his playing days, admitted to being notably frustrated on the sidelines. “We were very poor, [we had] really positive buildup and then it’s quite hard to get any momentum when you keep on making mistakes and that’s what we were doing- made lots of errors, dropped the ball a lot and lots of turnovers.”

Stewart also offered a potential solution as to the lack of scoring, beyond mistakes from both teams: “It wasn’t a classic as such, it shows maybe it was two teams who are really worrying about the result and needing to win.”

The magnitude of the game really couldn’t be overstated as the pair are both battling to avoid relegation- victory for Newton moving them level with their rivals on 27 points whilst Truro are bottom on 23, in a division where two teams will face the drop.

Monnington, who labelled the fixture as a “dogfight”, recognised the significance of the victory. It was “A massive win for our survival hopes. It sends a message that we’re still here to play and fight, we’ll keep it going.”

With Newton still a man light, Teigns number eight Alex Ford looked sure to get his side on the board but an unfortunate knock on over the line put paid to that.

Not long after, another strong drive from the now 15-men of Newton bore fruit, Owen McLeod heading down the blindside and passing it on to Jed Griffin whose powerful running made the difference once again. A brilliant conversion out wide from Steer took the lead to 0-10.

The home side mustered up a try of their own with scrum-half Dan Woolnough crossing the line in response. Full-back Jack Mayne saw his conversion slide just wide.

Steer’s second penalty of the game, this one from just inside the Teignmouth half, restored the 7+ point advantage at 5-13.

Mayne then had a chance at redemption with the final play of the game though and he gratefully accepted. Knowing that even a converted try couldn’t help them avoid defeat, Teignmouth opted for the penalty kick and Mayne slotted it to earn them a losing bonus point at 8-13.

Looking ahead now and Stewart, aside of his frustrations, said that “All is still to play for. We’re desperate to stay in the league and only time will tell.”

Newton Abbot host league leaders Topsham next on the 8th whilst Teignmouth head to Wadebridge.