When the team’s coach departed Raleigh Park on Saturday morning, all those on board knew they needed to start well this season and put to bed the ‘Old’ Withycombe of 2018/19 and get the season underway with a good first outing.
This was certainly the case too as the game began with the boys winning their own kick-off and the plan of multi-phase rugby and possession was put into place immediately. This worked well, ending with Jack Fear placing the ball on the line from the middle of a try-line ruck with a little more than a minute on the clock.
The ensuing restart found it’s way back into Withy hands and this allowed us to work the ball back down the pitch yard by yard until a break by prop Billy Sharland was stopped 5m ahead of the line, allowing a nice pass out to Aussie Rory Collings to give him his first league try in green and black. With a second conversion attempt sailing wide the boys found themselves 10pts to the good after just 5 minutes!
The excellent start helped build the confidence in the Withy camp and some impressive attacking play helped to keep the Buckfastleigh boys at bay and largely camped within their own half. This didn’t dampen their spirits though as some strong periods of attack made sure that Withies kept their defences tight.
It was on 11 minutes when the Withycombe forwards showed their strength as a 5m scrum was walked over the line allowing Mike Richards dot the ball down. The bonus point came not long after as a similarly positioned scrum was won against the head and the ball swung out to Sam ‘Bam Bam’ Warren who picked up the pace to cross the whitewash in the corner to elating cheers from the abundance of Withy supporters who made the journey.
With the Withy boys 22 points clear, the pace slowed a little and a few lapses in discipline gave the home side some reward for their efforts as a chipped ball dropped low into Buckfastleigh hands and they passed out to the wing and close the gap slightly to 5-22 which remained the score until the half time whistle.
The second half continued in much the same way as the first one ended with some good equal runs in the middle of the pitch until the deadlock was broken by another break from Billy Sharland who passed to the ever-dynamic Neil Williams who again was stopped just short of the line, although not without passing back out to Sam Warren to use his pace again to outrun his opposing player and score his second try of the game. It was another foot race just two minutes later as on 50min, Ben Dawson left several defenders standing as he swerved his way down the line and back across the pitch to score under the posts, allowing an easy opportunity for Will Hockin to bisect the posts for another two points. It was little more than a minute until the game was ‘put to bed’ as a superb solo run from George Toomey was converted into another 5 points giving the visitors a 39-5 lead after just 52 minutes.
The home side still refused to give up as their fly half used his boot to good effect, sending the ball into the Withies’ 22’. The bounce couldn’t have been more perfect for the boys in gold as the ball narrowly evaded Withy hands and was taken beautifully by Buckfastleigh as they crossed over for their second in a well deserved, albeit lucky, try.
As the game entered the latter stages it was time for Buckfastleigh to have a run as they had the lion’s share of possession and territory, testing the Withy defence a number of times. However the final say of the game went to Withycombe as they opted to use their evident strength in the forwards and take a scrum from a 78th minute penalty. The ball was well driven and passed out to George Toomey to dive over the line under the posts. With the final conversion by Hockin sailing between the posts, the game shortly came to an end, also bringing an end to the Withy Men’s 12 month wait for a league victory!

The boys are back in action next week and will be hoping to build on this brillIant start to the season as they welcome Plymouth side Old Technicians to Raleigh Park. Kick off 3pm