Taunton Titans 41 Redingensians Rams 6
A much changed Rams side suffered a fourth successive defeat - their worst start to a league season for 23 years.
But the score failed to reflect the effort of a young side plagued by injuries and unavailabilities with three players making their debut against the Somerset table-toppers.
The newcomers, props Ed Whelan and George Banks plus centre Will Hopkins all showed up well but the constant team upheaval failed to help Rams settle.
Mike Tewkesbury once again praised their attitude and said: “The courage of the boys and their desire to compete was immense. Everyone gave 100 percent.”
Rams were behind after just 65 seconds when Taunton spread the ball wide and Jack Clayton scored in the corner.
A Will Hopkins penalty immediately pegged back three points but soon after he missed a chance to put the visitors in front.
Rams stand-in skipper Steve Bryant was yellow carded and Taunton took advantage by quickly adding two tries.
Touchdowns from Eoghan Grace and Sam Prior made it 17-3 after 23 minutes while Hopkins hit the post with yet another penalty attempt but added a three-pointer just before the break.
However Rams, despite matching Taunton up front, failed to made inroads, spurning opportunities through a lack of precision in both kicking and passing.
They failed to profit from No 8 Prior in the sin-bin either side of halftime, before Gary Kingdom steadied Titans with a 47th minute penalty, Rams frittered away a two man overlap and subsequently paid the price with Jack Widmore going over for Titans.
With the game virtually beyond recall, Rams had their best spell with back row man Samir Kharbouch showing up well.
Skipper Bryant pointed out: “We seemed to relax and showed impressive continuity at times.”
For a 20 minute spell they competed well, but injuries to backs Harry Stapleton and George Drury caused disruption and the challenge faded.
Two late converted Taunton tries from Pryor and Lewis Webb plus a yellow card for Rams’ Will Morrison in the closing minutes meant the game finished on a sad note for Rams.
Rams: Foxley; Poole, Bryant, W Hopkins, McDermottroe: Stapleton, Brown; Whelan, Henderson, Baker, Taylor, Kerschbaumer, Kharbouch, A Hopkins, Guttridge. Reps: Crame, Banks, Morrison, Amor, Drury.