With the Clubhouse End being more suited to bog snorkelling than rugby, the hosts had their work cut out scoring in the first half. Four penalties in the Hayle 22 early on gave Withycombe a one-man advantage and skipper John Parkin decided to take the three points at the fourth time of asking. The decision paid off as Withycombe could then attack from deep, and before long a blindside break put lovable rogue Jimmy Holman in for a try on his return to first team rugby.

The conditions dictated the game in the first half as handling errors abounded, the only obvious bright spot being Mike Richards' offload to Eugene Badenhorst, the South African man of the match running in the first try of his hat-trick with glee. The teams turned round at 17-3 but Hayle had rarely threatened the Withyocmbe tryline. The second half continued in a similar fashion, Dave Richards' yellow card not helping matters; but Hayle began to crumble after Withycombe's return to a full complement.

The score that got the floodgates open was Badenhorst's second on 63 minutes; not long afterward Sam Conway got on the end of some good interplay and Badenhorst capped a frantic ten minutes with his third, a frankly ridiculous diving pirouetting score in the corner with most of his body in the air outside the field of play. The now inevitable Mike Richards short-ranger looked extremely tame by comparison four minutes later but at least gave Glenn Channing a chance to kick a goal at the Brook End. All in all, another 5-pointer which keeps the pressure on leaders Saltash who failed to make the most of their trip to whipping boys South Molton; Withycombe will be looking to pile on the points when they visit in two weeks time. Meanwhile Teignmouth await in the Devon Cup next week; a real test of Withycombe's ambitions in the next league up.

Withycombe: Jack Pugsley, Jimmy Holman (1T), Aaron Conway, Joe Parkin, Sam Conway (1T), Glenn Channing (3C, 1P), John Parkin, Liam Cullen, Dave Richards (YC), Phil Sluman, Dave Sims, Matt Bragg, Andrei Toma, Eugene Badenhorst (3T, MoM), Mike Richards (1T). Reps: Dan Carey, Ben Clarke, Adam Morris.