AN emphatic 14-82 result at Rackerhayes on Saturday, March 8 saw Topsham RFC clinch the Regional Two Tribute South West title whilst Newton Abbot fell back to the foot of the table.

One defeat in 19 games became one in 20 for this supremely impressive Topsham side with Newton’s Director of Rugby Mike Saxton heaping praise on the victors. “Ultimately, Topsham are next level and I think they’ll hold their own in the next league up. A brilliant team, congratulations to them today on their win and for the league [title] as well.”

From his team’s point of view, “We had a game plan to come out here and get four tries and unfortunately, it just didn’t happen, which makes it all a bit tougher.”

Despite the one-sided scoreline, it was actually the hosts who scored the first points on a deceptively cold afternoon. In Saxton’s words, “We got off to a strong start and scored first, stuck some points on the board and I think we just caught them napping. We were still in it at half-time as well.”

Second-row Matt Juniper and young Toby Pascoe were the try scorers for Newton All Whites, the latter displaying individual brilliance to get over the line. Tom Steer slotted both conversions and being halfway to their four-try objective within 20 minutes left room for optimism, but it wasn’t to be.

High-flying Topsham led 35-14 at the break and the young Newton side kept pushing at the beginning of the second half, Steer and Jed Griffin linking up well in midfield on multiple occasions but to no avail.

Missed tackles and tiring bodies saw the visitors run up the score and they were pulling away with ease come the final whistle.

The afternoon was made more difficult for Newton as they seemingly “never got the rub of the green” with the officiating. Saxton commented, “I don’t normally talk about the referee but I do think we were reffed out of it at times. Inconsistency really flattens the game and takes the wind out of our sails.” Whilst this didn’t have an impact on the outcome of course, it did halt any progress Newton displayed and led to frustration.

After the game, the dichotomy on the field was clear for all to see with Topsham able to cheer and sing loud to celebrate their deserved title win. At the other end, Newton’s players and staff showed their respects by applauding the champions but their own dejection after a bruising defeat was evident.

It remains to be seen how many teams will be relegated from the division due to various permutations but after the highs of beating rivals Teignmouth last week, the All Whites now return to the foot of the table due to results elsewhere. Teigns earned a losing bonus point away at Wadebridge Camels to move one clear of Newton and Truro RFC leapfrogged them with a low-scoring 10-8 win over Wellington.

This was always going to be a difficult outing and they can now look to bounce back on March 22 at North Petherton.

The goal is clear for Saxton and co. “We’ve got two games left, we’re targeting six points in those two games so you don’t have to do a lot of maths there to work it out, we’ll look to win at Pethy and we’ll look to take points in that final game [against Tiverton].”