A HUGELY important Devon derby between two struggling sides went the way of Teignmouth RFC away at Newton Abbot on Saturday, November 16.

In what Teignmouth coach Colin Stewart described as “Typical derby style”, there were no points scored in the first 20 minutes. The game ebbed and flowed with both teams battling hard in search of an advantage.

The home team crossed the white line first, hard work down the middle resulting in a try under the posts through a sea of bodies. Tom Steer converted to make it 7-0.

Teignmouth hit back with a score of their own through Jack Bowen, but not before Rory Blackmore was sent to the sin-bin for Newton, making a reckless tackle with his team under pressure.

Jack Mayne slotted the conversion and the two local rivals remained locked at seven apiece heading into half-time.

Despite an early yellow after the break, Bowen added a second for himself and the team for the 14-men Teignmouth, closely followed by some pushing and shoving as tensions bubbled over.

A pair of close calls for Newton proved they were by no means out of the fixture, Teigns fly-half Luke Atkinson making a try-saving tackle on Jed Griffin before an inventive crossfield kick from Steer was then well-defended.

Teignmouth added a third converted try along with a penalty from Mayne to take the final score to 7-24 and helped maintain the fullback’s 100% kicking record for the victory.

As discipline began to fade at the end for Newton Abbot, prop Liam Flatt was sent for a 10-minute break, but their Director of Rugby Mike Saxton still spoke of there being “Lots of positives.” He added, whilst “you can’t take away from the effort from the lads, game management wasn’t as good as it could have been.”

On the flipside, Stewart commented on Teigns: “We kept our composure… We got over the gain-line really well at times and put pressure on Newton.”

He also told the MDA about “A lot of happy memories” from his “eight years as a player and coach” with NARFC.