IVYBRIDGE RFC bowed out of the Devon Senior Cup following a 40-12 quarter-final defeat at the hands of visiting Devonport Services.

Having fallen 12 points down in as many minutes, Services recovered to take a 21-12 lead into the break.

Despite briefly going down to 13 men in the second half, Services pulled clear.

Steve Atkinson, the Ivybridge coach, said the resilience shown by a youthful side containing a clutch of teenagers was encouraging.

“The boys really dug in after Services went three tries on the bounce as it could have ended up a cricket score.

“Maybe last season, or the season before, we might have rolled over but the boys did dig in.

“We started off really well, racing to 12-0 lead, then a few silly errors by us let them back in. Once Services got a sniff, that was sort of it.”

Jack Guyer put Ivybridge ahead with a fifth-minute try in the corner. Joe Owen added the second that Harry Newman-Wild converted from dead ahead.

Services fired back with a trio of trios though, two of which were scored by prop Oli Symons.

They then lost prop James McFarlane to an injury early in the second half and ran out of front-row forwards for a while when Symons was yellow-carded.

Crucially, Services avoided conceding while short-staffed and actually went further ahead with a chip-chase try for Charlie Groves, putting the game to bed when Symons returned.

Atkinson said despite the scoreline, the second half was far from one-sided.

“Services really targeted our maul as they obviously knew it was a strong part of our game,” said Atkinson. “A few refereeing decisions against us in that area cost us when we were in their 22.”

Ivybridge switch to the Senior Shield where they will pay a visit to Topsham on November 15.

League rugby is back on the menu for Ivybridge this Saturday when old rivals Okehampton pay a visit to Cross-in-Hand.