South Molton v Withycombe

Withycombe Brush molton Aside

South Molton 5
Withycome 41

Withycombe storm back to the top of the Cornwall & Devon league on points difference with an emphatic victory at South Molton

Withycombe put their Devon Cup disappointment behind them with a commanding display at basement boys South Molton on Saturday.

Four first-half tries nabbed the bonus point early and fortunately Withycombe's second-half attenuation wasn't t be an issue.

The fun started early as a scrum turnover gave Dave Richards the opportunity to show off his range of passing at flyhalf, a long looping pass allowing Jack Pugslry to open the scoring. Six minutes later some persistent phase play culminated in Dave Sims crashing over from short range. A quick tap on 24 minutes gave Sam Conway space to open his legs and he outpaced the Molton defence to score Withycombe's third. South Molton missed a penalty on 29 minutes but rarely looked like scoring; and just three minutes later Richards made his case for ousting Glenn Channing from the 10 shirt on a permanent basis with a show-and-go try featuring a hip action Channing can only dream of!

The second half was a messier affair. Having dominated the scrum and breakdown in the first half, penalties started going against Withycombe in both departments, and perhaps the visitors' eagerness to score was their undoing as passes started going to ground. Simon Tozer came off the bench to bag a try and on 50 minutes Joe Parkin's 60 metre break set the stage for Pugsley to core a straightforward second, but pickings were slim after that. Dan Carey bagged his first try in Withycombe colours from a driving maul, and South Molton ended with some reward for the second half efforts after som confusion in the Withycombe 22 led to a Garryowen bouncing straight into the arms of the onrushing Molton full back.

Next week Honiton visit Raleigh Park before Withycombe wrap up their 2014 league action with a visit to wooden spoon contenders Liskeard.

Withycombe: Jack Pugsley (2T, 3C), Sam Conway (1T), Aaron Conway, Joe Parkin, Danny Sansom, Dave Richards (1T), John Parkin, Dave Wellbeloved, Liam Cullen, Phil Sluman, Dave Sims (1T), Matt Bragg, Andrei Toma, Eugene Badenhorst, Mike Richards. Reps: Dan Carey (1T), Tim Wills, Simon Tozer (1T).