Barnstaple U16s 7,

Ivybridge U16s 13

The Fishermans Cup encounter between Barnstaple and Ivy­bridge at the weekend was definitely a game of two halves, with Ivybridge taking the points in the first half and Barnstaple in the second.

The game started with both teams testing each other, with good rugby skills demonstrated by both teams.

Ivybridge were just in the ascendancy with penetrating three-quarters running and a solid performance in the set piece, particularly their scrummaging.

The Ivybridge 10 points in the first half came from two similar tries, both earned by working their way around the Barnstaple defence rather than trying to barge their way through it.

Mat B was the instigator of both by working out wide, drawing the last defender then passing to Tommy for the first try, then to Joe for the second.

Ivybridge made the second half very difficult for themselves by running into contact rather than offloading to a man in space, something that they achieved in the first half to counter the strength of the Barnstaple defence.

Fortunately the Ivy­bridge scrum remained strong, keeping the Barn­staple pack on the back foot at every set piece.

A well-taken penalty kick by Taylor took Ivybridge to 13 points before Barnstaple scored a converted try that set the supporters’ hearts racing.

However Ivybridge continued to defend courageously, epitomised by Charlie A and Tommy, who had to leave the field through injury.

Thank goodness there are four wheels on a wagon as Ivy­bridge certainly lost one as they eked out a win made difficult by themselves. That said, credit must go to Barn­staple for making it challenging.

The first XV, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat of the campaign, going down 24-41 at home to Camborne, who leapfrogged them to move to second in the table as Ivy slip down to third.

The Bridge will hope to get back to winning ways tomorrow when they face a trip to the league’s basement boys, Broms­grove.