Kingsbridge Colts 34,
Honiton Colts 14
Kingsbridge Colts in their last home match of the season entertained Honiton Colts on Saturday in conditions resembling the set of Lawrence of Arabia, with dust flying in the very strong wind.
Kings' warm-up involved the uprighting of the dugouts that had been blown over in the morning gusts!
Kings were playing into the wind for the first half and had the thought of some payback as Honiton had given Kings a fair tonking at Honiton earlier in the season.
From the kick-off Stu Harris flattened the Honiton player with an early tackle and at the resulting line-out Kings spoiled, which was to happen several times throughout the game in what was to prove one of the best line-out displays of the season.
A tremendous clearance from one 22 to the other into the wind from George Jones gave Stu Harris the chance for another line-out steal.
He didn't disappoint and the ball went down the line, only for Mike Carson to be forced into touch.
Kings launched several attacks, again only to see Ollie Sutton and Marvin Jones forced into touch only metres short.
Fynn McCoy left the field bleeding like a stuck pig but returned several minutes later.
Kings by now were playing some great offloads out of the tackle, Fred Buckle got in on the action with a very fine chip and chase (he had a tremendous game at seven with a huge array of skills).
Kings were increasing the pressure by the minute on Honiton but went into halftime at 0-0.
Second half started with some poor passing ending in Honiton intercepting and going over and converting to make it 0-7, was it going to be one of those days?
Straight from the restart Honiton knocked on, and with the advantage being applied Kings went into the Honiton 22 and Tom Wotton was fed the ball with the tryline in sight.
He then looked to take the contact for some reason but burst through to go over, converted by George Jones to make it 7-7.
Another stolen lineout led to a penalty to Kings, Jones kicked to touch and from the line-out after nine phases McCoy skipped down the blindside leaving Honiton players in his wake to score for 12-7.
Honiton applied the pressure but Kings came back again and a brilliant Buckle kick led to a regather from Rayworth, who'd chased everything all afternoon with great purpose, and a well-deserved try for 17-7.
From the resulting restart some indecision from Kings led to the Honiton six going over, which was converted for 17-14.
With Kings deep in Honiton territory, McCoy put a diagonal chip in for James Ogglesby to cross for 22-14, Carson missing the conversion with Jones leaving after a smack in the mouth.
Carson then tore upfield from the restart looking to right his missed conversion, making 30 metres.
A very strong scrum from Kings led to McCoy stepping over for a second try with the conversion missed 27-14.
Soon after Kings had the chance to employ one of their strongest weapons this season, a catch and drive.
As the Honiton players were sucked in, the ball was released and went down the line to Ogglesby on the wing.
After several more phases McCoy, with two show and gos, crossed again to finish off an outstanding game for himself and what had been an outstanding game from Kings. His try was converted by Rivas.
Exeter U16s 12, Kingsbridge U16s 7
Kings travelled to Ivybridge on Sunday to play in the Devon Plate final and ended up on the losing side of a very hard fought match.
The usual shortage of players and injuries meant four players started the match in positions they had not started in before.
It was, as expected, a very frantic start to the match with plenty of handling errors, but both defences were strong, giving very few scoring chances to either team.
Exeter scored midway through the first half to make it 5-0 and that was the score at the break.
A minor scuffle after the break saw two players from each side yellow carded, but that was to be the only blemish as the rest of the match was played in a very fair manner.
A converted try by Exeter 10 minutes from the end secured the victory, but in the final minute James Kenny powered over the try line to score and the try was converted by Christopher Stacey to make the final score 12-7.
All 16 players gave their all in very warm conditions, and special thanks to Dan Morgan and Alistair Damerell who stepped up from the U15s.
The team was Will Haddy, Oscar Wilson, Ben Simpson, Alistair Damerell, Harry Fox, Oliver Pound, Robin Luscombe, James Kenny, Max Hollingworth, Christopher Stacey, Daniel Morgan, Matt Adams, Josh Morgan, George Watson, Matthew Hawkins and Ben Baldry.
Kingsbridge U15s 54,
Launceston U15s 5
Kingsbridge entertained Launceston at the weekend and entertained the spectators with a great display of running rugby.
From the start the larger Cornish side showed their intent with powerful forward play, however Kingsbridge's dogged determination throughout their pack continually spoilt Launceston's intentions.
A great tackle by Lawrence John resulted in the ball being stolen and the backs setting Devon Jewsbury up for his first try as he powered through the full back to score.
The game continued with Kingsbridge keeping the pressure on the strong Launceston defence.
Kings were unable to penetrate until Sam Jones made a side stepping break on the wing and put the team two scores ahead.
Neither side gave anything away up to the half time whistle and for the first 10 minutes of the second half.
However, with the Kings forwards providing yet more quick ball from a ruck, the slick hands of Louis Chapman and James Tait supplied Devon with the ball, who executed a perfect chip and gather to score.
Launceston's handling skills finally paid off when they found an overlap in the Kings defence and scored in the corner.
This gave Kingsbridge renewed gusto and their fitness and speed unlocked the game.
A continual bombardment of the Cornish All Blacks saw James score a hat-trick, Sam West wriggling through tackles to add his donation to the points and Devon completing his hat-trick.
Will Throgmorton converted six tries and Sam West one, taking the final score to 54-5.
This was a great team effort with every player contributing to the final result, and a fitting send off to departing head coach Shawn Tait, who was presented with a gift after the game for his 10 years of dedicated service to the squad.
Kingsbridge U11s
As the season draws to an end, the U11s have attended and hosted festivals over the last few weeks.
On March 29 they travelled to Paignton to take part in the Trevor Ward Festival, and on April 12 hosted the Phil Darke Devon RFU U11s Festival.
The Trevor Ward Festival was on an extremely wet and dreary day.
After matches against Paignton, and two touring sides, Kingsbridge and Torquay were both unbeaten, so it was decided that as theirs was the last game it would be played as the final.
Torquay and Kings are always on an even keel, but on this day Torquay came out narrow winners.
In contrast, the Phil Darke Devon RFU U11s festival was held on a bright and sunny day.
Spirits were high and with 19 teams at High House a full day of rugby lay ahead.
Kingsbridge had a hard pool but with wins over Honiton, Crediton and Tavistock and a draw against Devonport Services, they finished top.
The Cup semi-finals saw them take on Cullompton, and playing uphill in the first half things were tight, with Cullompton leading 5-0 at half time.
There followed a long delay due to an injury and the game was moved on to an adjacent pitch.
With determination and focus the blue and whites went on to win the match 15-5.
Kings were then in the finals against a well drilled Teignmouth side and with injuries and tired legs, the Kings could not hold them back – Teignmouth went on to win 15-5, with Kingsbridge finishing runners-up.
Not only was there a great team spirit shown, but the effort of everyone involved in the run up to the festival was phenomenal, and ensured a memorable day for the club.
Kingsbridge U10s
Kings concluded an already fantastic season by storming through to win the Devon festival at Exeter Saracens ground on Sunday.
There were seven four-team groups, with four awards up for grabs and the cup being awarded to the best team of the day.
The number of victories and tries scored and conceded during the preliminary round would decide which award each team would compete for.
Kingsbridge won their preliminary round games 4-0, 3-1 and 7-1 respectively which awarded them with a cup semi-final fixture against Paignton.
The team was improving game by game and tries by Max Ferguson, Otis Morgan, Stan Gerrard and Pip Burton Race ensured their place in the cup final against Torquay.
Packed touchlines formed for final which was a totally one-sided affair, with a vast majority of the action taking place in Torquay's half.
Tries from Max Ferguson, Stan Gerrard, Rhys Stevens, Joe Burner and Otis Morgan allowed the magnificent Kings to claim the crown.
This was a total team performance where every player excelled and were a credit to their families and club.
The other team members who made and served up the ammunition for the try scorers, and battled like Trojans to fend off the opposition were Tom Partridge, Fin Roberts, Matt Hill, Harry Rodwell, Archie McKenzie, Pip Burton Race, and George Royle.
Final mention must go to the remaining squad, who fully supported the festival team, and without whose efforts throughout the season Sunday's victory would not have been possible.
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