Barnstaple opened their account against the run of play on 12 minutes with a well struck penalty from full-back Gwyn Parks. Parks missed another opportunity to extend his side’s lead with a second penalty attempt at 16 minutes, but was on target again to add the extras from Luke Berry’s 19th minute try.
Rams opened their account once successive penalties allowed them to gain territory from driving line-outs before some nice work released Stevie Bryant to score in the corner, Adrian Jarvis converting a difficult kick.

It took Barnstaple just 3 minutes to restore their 7 point lead when neat handling by the home side skipper Winston James released his outstanding scrum half Jordan Petherbridge for what would prove the second best try of the game, the best falling again to Petherbridge in extra time. Parks again added the extras.
The men in blue then turned on the heat with a scrum on the Barnstaple 5 metre line which, as has happened so many times this season, was driven forward until an infringement gave referee Jack Lewars no option but to award a penalty try. Half-time score, 17-14 to Barnstaple.
With the wind on their back, Rams dominated the early exchanges of the second half and went ahead 24-17 with two early unconverted tries. The first from number 8 Connor Stapley, who delivered another impressive back row performance, taking on a lot of the workload from his injured brother Robbie, and a lovely side-step on 52 minutes from inside centre Jordan Souter.
But the difference in scores was eradicated on 55 minutes when some fast handling put Barnstaple’s long-term stalwart Will Topps in space out wide, and the outside centre didn’t need a second invitation before darting through the gap and scoring under the posts. The last 20 minutes were mainly dominated by Rams with a powerful score from skipper Tom Vooght on the 62nd minute, and an opportunistic touchdown from substitute fall-back Ollie Foxley on the 68th minute compliments of a cheeky grubber kick from Adrian Jarvis, who converted the results of his work from the far left touchline.

At 38-24 to Rams, the game looked done and the away team peppered the opponent’s try line in their quest for a 7th try. But they were forcefully denied by a Barnstaple side that refused to lay down and a scrum penalty 5 metres from their own touchline set in train a wave of phases that showed why Barnstaple are so formidable on their own turf and also why they are establishing themselves in National II. The men in red literally carried, and carried, and carried until Petherbridge, who had worked tirelessly all day, touched down under the posts to earn his team a deserved 2 points from their efforts. After the game Head Coach Seb Reynolds paid tribute to his opponents and to his own team “…Barnstaple are a strong side with some really good backs that can hurt you from anywhere on the field, as they proved today, and when you come down here [Barnstaple] it is like playing against 16 men because their crowd get behind their boys, which makes a great atmosphere”. With regard his own side’s performance Reynolds went on to declare “I am very pleased with what we did today and it’s a luxury to have a front low like ours which powers away all afternoon, and you need that when the conditions are so wet and heavy, as they have been recently”. Reynolds paid particular tribute to young replacement tight-head Griff Whitson “Griff has made a contribution every time he has come on the pitch for us this season, and he is still very young and still eligible to play Berkshire Under 20s, where he is captain, he is outstanding around the park but he also scrummages well, which is the first requirement of any front row forward”. Whitson is one of a trio of young guns that have been effective for Rams this season and are still eligible for Berkshire Under 20s, Ollie Cole and Ellis Jones being the other two.

Rams get a weekend’s rest this week with their next game at home to Wimbledon on Saturday, 2.30pm March – kick-off at 2.30pm at Old Bath Road.