Three Tries Topple Topsham

Withycombe started off the New Year with a bang as they travelled just miles up the road to Topsham in a classic local derby affair. With Christmas and all the trimmings firmly forgotten about, the Green and Blacks were looking to capitalise on their two wins before the Christmas break and keep snapping at the heels of Penryn and Albion Oaks in the league respectively. Topsham were looking to scalp some much needed points after dropping into the relegation zone after being deducted points for an admin error, but they had their work cut out in a bruising encounter.

The conditions were wet but firm at Bonfire Field, and with the game kicking off it wouldn't take long for the first points of the game. Ten minutes in and from a Withycombe lineout Liam Cullen carried hard to set up some decent quick ball. Fly half Olly Toomey put in a deft kick through the defence into space which brother George got on the end of five metres from the line, and with plenty still to do he crashed through a tackle and dotted down.

Five minutes later a knock on from Topsham in Withy territory saw a break out wide. The returning Chris Gibbons picked up the loose ball and off loaded to Adam Sperry, the new recruit gobbled up the yardage on a sixty metre dash. From an ensuing ruck, that man Olly Toomey put boot to ball as his cross field kick fell into the hands of Tom "Tax" Counsell, who gleefully finished off the move by going under the posts, Olly Toomey converted both tries to give the Green and Blacks an early 14-0 lead.

Any thoughts of a cricket score were soon dashed though, as Topsham got their hands on the ball. With a monstrous pack they started driving hard at the Withycombe defence, and were quite the handful. Plenty of Topsham pressure never yielded any points, except for a missed penalty from George York, although he would later kick another successfully to chalk up Topshams first and only points of the game to make it 14-3.

Although Topsham had the size, the Withycombe pack were the more dominant side in the scrums. Much of the first half was played out in the middle of the pitch, no side really getting a sniff of either sides try line. There were patches of brilliance though. Forget Christmas dinner, jouer was on the menu! After a Topsham scrum was turned over, scrum half Jack Sullivan broke down the blindside. His off load to Fridge, then to Number 8 Alex Taylor and then Taylors one handed pass to Doug Wibberly got the Withy supporters begging for more, but the move ultimately came to nothing. There was no more real action of the half, so the teams would turn around with the score 14-3 to the visitors.

With Withycombe looking to bolster their lead, it took a turn for the worse as within a minute of the second half "The Tax Man" Tom Counsell was sin binned for a late tackle. This only drove Topsham down further into the Green and Blacks territory, where they would set up camp for the first half of the second half. Withycombe were containing the lumpy Topsham pack, but only just. Danny Sansom was an immovable object in defence, the full back moon lighting at blindside flanker and doing more chopping than a lumberjack. With ball being sparse, Alex Taylor and captain Neil Williams continued to run hard and direct, but to no real avail as wave of attack came back from the home side. Withycombes efforts to dig themselves out of a hole became even harder as hooker Liam Cullen was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.

However, a wounded lion is the most dangerous as the saying goes. And that couldn't ring more true as after a spilled ball from Topsham in the Withy 22, the ball was scooped up into the hands of Man of the Match Danny Sansom, who got on his proverbial bike and powered up the pitch with only green in front of him to return it eighty metres for a try! Toomey again adding the conversion to make it 21-3.

That try certainly seemed to take the wind out of Topshams sails after all their hard work previously, and with the game starting to take it's toll, there were a few scuffles here and there. Withycombe were now imposing themselves in the scrum. After driving a scrum back fifteen metres and with penalty advantage, the ball was whipped wide into Counsells hands. He went through for a sure fire try, only for him to knock it on over the line!

The game by this point was into the last five minutes, and the visitors were looking for the four try bonus point. The Withies went back up the pitch on a final march, and when an over lap was provided, the returning Rob Hayes went for gold. It looked to be a certain try, and only metres from the line it was last ditch defending. There was some controversy as the tackle looked extremely high, and after that Hayes got back up and knocked the ball on. The referee didn't see the high tackle and could only blow up for the end of the game, ending a superb match. The scoreline certainly didn't tell the full story, Topsham not getting a great deal for their grunt. The bruising collisions and contact area certainly was a step up, and Withycombe will be glad to get through it pretty much unscathed.

Withycombe return to action next week at Raleigh Park where they'll welcome Plymstock Albion Oaks which is sure to be another Cornwall and Devon league slobberknocker.