Weekend of heartbreak and near-misses for Torbay Rugby Clubs

The rugby season is fully underway for Torbay clubs and a wild weekend saw narrow defeats for Paignton, Torquay and Brixham.

After securing a powerful 50-19 victory over Barnstaple Athletic on the opening day of the season, Paignton travelled to Redruth 2nds full of hope and anticipation.

The Cherries made a decent start in Cornwall and looked in relative control before the home side fought back to secure a 37-29 win.

“It was a frustrating day for us. Five changes from last week, including four debuts, threw our game plan off balance,” said Paignton Head Coach Martin Worthington.

“We started strongly but couldn’t sustain it, with our defense looking disjointed and our attack too narrow on a spacious pitch. Full credit to Redruth—they fought back after every try and earned the win.

“As the second game of the season, we’re still working toward peak form after a sluggish pre-season. Moving forward, we’ll focus on tightening our defensive structure and exploiting the full width of the pitch to regain our rhythm.”

It was a better day for Paignton 2nds, as they ran in ten tries in a dominant 68-13 triumph over Plympton Victoria. The scorers on the day were George Palk (2), Joe Massey (2), Elliott Browse, Jack Linley-Shaw, Ryan Hunt, Toby Hodgetts, Jack Button and Jedd East. Palk also added eight conversions.

After the frustration of coming so close to a historic promotion last season, Brixham RFC have regrouped and kicked off the campaign with a powerful 45-15 win over Matson.

Chew Valley were the next visitors and it turned out to be a dramatic, thrilling game, which just fell away from the Fishermen, despite making a powerful start that saw them race into a 12-0 lead with scores from Louie Drennan out wide and then a penalty try.

The visitors gained a minor foothold from a penalty but the Fishermen asserted more pressure, crossing again through Joel Ashworth. Chew Valley then profited from an interception to get their first try but Brixham again surged forward, Jason Capaldi dotting down for the bonus point try.

A decent finish from the Chew winger reduced the scores to 24-12 at the break and they took that momentum into the second half, piling on the pressure with a series of drives that finally saw the home defence buckle.

A quick tap and go from George Hilson again widened the gap for Brixham but Chew responded with more power up front, bringing the scores to a tantalising 31-26 in favour of the hosts. Another try brought the scores level with little time on the clock.

A Brixham penalty gave them a three-point lead but home hearts were broken when Chew crossed for the winning score, 34-38 and a cracking game of rugby.

The final part of this Torbay triumvirate of frustration came in Newton Abbot, where Torquay Athletic led for long periods and were literally seconds away from victory when a last-gasp score culminated in a 25-24 victory for Newton.