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Rams move 11 points clear at the top
Steven Williams3 Jan 2015 - 23:05
A try from Joe Duffelen and the boot of James Brooks sinks `The Fishermen'.
Brixham 13 Redingensians 16
A Joe Duffelen try and the boot of scrum half James Brooks ensured Rams the four points at Astley Park last Saturday to stretch their lead at the top of National Div. 3 South West league table.
It was their 10th successive win and with second placed Exmouth losing, 0-10, at Bournemouth they are now 11 points ahead of the chasing pack and looking worthy league champions.
But Rams were pushed all the way by `The Trawlermen' who stood up well in the tight and were equally as assured behind their forwards.
They were also fuelled by wanting revenge having lost to Rams just five weeks ago in a re-arranged match at the Old Bath Road Ground.
And so it took a mighty performance from Rams and especially up front where lock James Hughes was their man of the match.
He said afterwards: “It was tough! They came out to make it hard for us and get revenge for the previous defeat but we stuck together and produced the goods. They were very physical, very aggressive and, probably, at the start wanted it a bit more than we did, but we can press on from here and get some more wins under our belts.”
Rams, with the wind, got off to the worst possible start miss-fielding the kick-off and immediately handing possession to their hosts who promptly capitalised when they were penalised by referee Ian Bibey for not rolling away at a ruck and home fly half Ben Lovell banged over the kick to put his side, 3-0, in front after just two minutes!
But the visitors slowly got themselves back into a rhythm and some smart handling from No.8 Gus Davies and centre Steve Bryant ended with wing Olly Foxley just putting a foot into touch near the line as their confidence grew.
Finally, the breakthrough came when fly half Luke Flower put full back Joe Duffelen away and he carved up the Brixham midfield and finally smashed his way through wing Jonny Brown's attempted tackle to scorch over the line, close to the posts, and hand Brooks a simple conversion for a 7-3 lead.
With tempers fraying soon after and the ref speaking to both captains Rams also found themselves having to make their first substitution after Davies picked up a `stinger' and Jamie Guttridge took his place.
And the replacement was straight away into his stride and was only denied a try when the referee deemed he had made a double movement in touching down from a five metre scrum.
But, almost immediately, Rams did increase their lead as Brixham got offside at a ruck and Brooks slotted over the penalty for a 10-3 lead.
Although a second Lovell penalty, on 35 minutes, cut the deficit to 10-6 Brooks ended the half with his third successful penalty kick, given against Brixham for wheeling the scrum, to put the visitors ahead 13-6 going into the second half.
And he banged over a third just six minutes into the second half as Rams early pressure yielded results to put them 16-6 only for the home side to enjoy their best period of the match and put Rams under some serious pressure.
It ended when Brixham won a line-out inside the Rams 22 and after a couple of rucks and constant pressure on the visitors line centre Steve Worth finally drove over for Lovell to add the extras and put them within three points of the visitors 13-16.
And despite Rams losing fly half Flower over the closing stages and skipper Amor deputising and even making a break they had taken the sting out of the home sides attack and they were able to hold on until the final whistle.
As Amor summed up afterwards: “It was a tough game throughout. There was never more than a few points between us and it's a difficult place to come down to especially after Christmas and full credit to the team for coming away with a hard fought victory.
“It definitely was up there with the Exmouth game. Conditions were difficult under foot and their forwards really gave us a challenge but we're really pleased to win.”
Rams now return home to face bottom club Chard this Saturday, 2pm.
Rams – Duffelen; Poole, Massey, Bryant, Foxley; Flower, Brooks; Steadman, Crame, Baker; Hughes, Bryson; Amor (c), Hopkins, Davies. Reps. – Weller, Guttridge (both used), Dampies.
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A Joe Duffelen try and the boot of scrum half James Brooks ensured Rams the four points at Astley Park last Saturday to stretch their lead at the top of National Div. 3 South West league table.
It was their 10th successive win and with second placed Exmouth losing, 0-10, at Bournemouth they are now 11 points ahead of the chasing pack and looking worthy league champions.
But Rams were pushed all the way by `The Trawlermen' who stood up well in the tight and were equally as assured behind their forwards.
They were also fuelled by wanting revenge having lost to Rams just five weeks ago in a re-arranged match at the Old Bath Road Ground.
And so it took a mighty performance from Rams and especially up front where lock James Hughes was their man of the match.
He said afterwards: “It was tough! They came out to make it hard for us and get revenge for the previous defeat but we stuck together and produced the goods. They were very physical, very aggressive and, probably, at the start wanted it a bit more than we did, but we can press on from here and get some more wins under our belts.”
Rams, with the wind, got off to the worst possible start miss-fielding the kick-off and immediately handing possession to their hosts who promptly capitalised when they were penalised by referee Ian Bibey for not rolling away at a ruck and home fly half Ben Lovell banged over the kick to put his side, 3-0, in front after just two minutes!
But the visitors slowly got themselves back into a rhythm and some smart handling from No.8 Gus Davies and centre Steve Bryant ended with wing Olly Foxley just putting a foot into touch near the line as their confidence grew.
Finally, the breakthrough came when fly half Luke Flower put full back Joe Duffelen away and he carved up the Brixham midfield and finally smashed his way through wing Jonny Brown's attempted tackle to scorch over the line, close to the posts, and hand Brooks a simple conversion for a 7-3 lead.
With tempers fraying soon after and the ref speaking to both captains Rams also found themselves having to make their first substitution after Davies picked up a `stinger' and Jamie Guttridge took his place.
And the replacement was straight away into his stride and was only denied a try when the referee deemed he had made a double movement in touching down from a five metre scrum.
But, almost immediately, Rams did increase their lead as Brixham got offside at a ruck and Brooks slotted over the penalty for a 10-3 lead.
Although a second Lovell penalty, on 35 minutes, cut the deficit to 10-6 Brooks ended the half with his third successful penalty kick, given against Brixham for wheeling the scrum, to put the visitors ahead 13-6 going into the second half.
And he banged over a third just six minutes into the second half as Rams early pressure yielded results to put them 16-6 only for the home side to enjoy their best period of the match and put Rams under some serious pressure.
It ended when Brixham won a line-out inside the Rams 22 and after a couple of rucks and constant pressure on the visitors line centre Steve Worth finally drove over for Lovell to add the extras and put them within three points of the visitors 13-16.
And despite Rams losing fly half Flower over the closing stages and skipper Amor deputising and even making a break they had taken the sting out of the home sides attack and they were able to hold on until the final whistle.
As Amor summed up afterwards: “It was a tough game throughout. There was never more than a few points between us and it's a difficult place to come down to especially after Christmas and full credit to the team for coming away with a hard fought victory.
“It definitely was up there with the Exmouth game. Conditions were difficult under foot and their forwards really gave us a challenge but we're really pleased to win.”
Rams now return home to face bottom club Chard this Saturday, 2pm.
Rams – Duffelen; Poole, Massey, Bryant, Foxley; Flower, Brooks; Steadman, Crame, Baker; Hughes, Bryson; Amor (c), Hopkins, Davies. Reps. – Weller, Guttridge (both used), Dampies.
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