Wellington travelled to the Devon seaside in what was always going to be a difficult & tricky encounter despite the hosts lowly league position, writes Allyn Chetland. For The R&Bs prop Ollie Price came into the squad replacing the unwell Josh Hancock, otherwise it was an unchanged squad from the previous week.
Paignton are currently propping up the league & credit where credit is due the hosts dominated territory & possession throughout the 1st half with Chiefs only really threatening in the closing minutes of the half. Despite this advantage Paignton found it hard to break down The R&Bs superb defence with only one solitary try to show for their efforts via a cross field kick which did have a question of off-side associated with it. Halftime score 5 – 0 to Paignton.
The second was much better for in terms of possession & territory for The R&Bs which meant they could put phases of attacking play together. As a result, soon after the re-start, flanker Danny Lee crashed over for a try following a well-orchestrated attack involving the majority of the team. Full back Alex Davey converted the try despite the tight kicking angle. Buoyed by this score The R&Bs had their best patch of the match looking threatening on numerous occasions. One such attack saw centre Vinny Gordan score another well worked try after a Paignton attack had broken down just outside The R&Bs 22m line. Davey was again successful with the conversion to extend The R&Bs lead to 5-14. Paignton replied with a close range converted try soon after following a period of pressure on The R&Bs line to reduce the lead to 2 points. The game was on a knife edge with both teams looking for the score that would in reality win the game for whoever scored. The R&Bs found themselves in a promising position just inside their own half, Captain Patrick Jarman saw a chink in Paignton’s defensive line & exploited it fully with a shearing break. A superb chip ahead was re-gathered and flanker Liam Phillips was on hand to thunder over wide out for an unconverted try to make the score 12-19. Paignton pressed hard at the death, looking for a try and a conversion that even the score but despite their best efforts they could not break down The R&Bs resolute defence. A superb covering tackle by Danny Lee in the dying minutes on Paignton’s winger epitomised The R&Bs desire to come away with spoils. Full time score 12-19 to The R&Bs.
Whilst not hitting the performance levels of their last two outings this was an excellent and hard fought victory – Paignton threw everything they had at The R&Bs as they desperately look to climb out of the relegation places.
Next week The R&Bs make the short trip south to local neighbours Tiverton – the Devon side are lying just below The R&Bs in the league. When the sides met at the beginning of the season The R&Bs ran out winners in what turned out to be a close & physical match as local derbies usually are. This is sure to be another tough and gruelling encounter so The R&Bs will need to be firing on all cylinders to get the result.
Squad: J.Richards, J.Dyke, R.Marke, R.Walker, C.Kitto, D.Lee, L.Phillips, C.Venn, D.Goldstone, P.Jarman(c), T.Hart, V.Gordon, G.Hodgson, N.Pitman, A.Davey, M.Walker, O.Price, R.Hooper