Withycombe Match Report

A Problematic Afternoon in Plymouth for Withy

An injury-marred match leads to a tough defeat on the road 

The game got off to a promising start for Withy who made the most of a good bit of early pressure. Within the opening five minutes, it had looked like Withy had crossed the line, but with the grounding not seen, it was chalked off the board and given as held up. Undeterred, the boys continued and were soon back with an opportunity of some points in the form of a kick at goal – only to be denied by the uprights! The unluckiest of starts for Withy.

After this flurry of activity, play evened out for much of the remainder of the half. The only score coming three minutes from the whistle with the hosts crossing the line out wide to take a 5-0 lead into the break. 

The second half saw Devonport earn three points from the tee almost immediately from the first kick. Withy soon struck back however with a well-timed break from Tom Cooke creating some space for Ben Dawson to score a brilliant try in a similar position to the hosts. With Cooke’s successful conversion, Withy brought the game back to within a point at 8-7. 

It was at that point, Withy’s luck ran out and with two contentious tries creating a larger gap on the scoreboard, Withy were having to work particularly hard on the unforgiving artificial surface. 
With injuries to players in multiple positions forcing Withy to see out the final 10/15minutes of the game with only thirteen players. Devonport were able to capitalise this situation to score a string of unanswered points to bring the final score to Devonport Services II 46, Withycombe 7. 

The boys have a week to rest, recuperate and reset ahead of next weekend’s game against Exeter Saracens at Raleigh Park. The game will kick off at 2:30pm.