Ivybridge 37pts
Drybrook 16pts
It was an early start for the trip down to Devon on Saturday and the team had to be reshuffled with players missing through illness and unavailability. The trip down was fairly uneventful until Chris Rawlings forgot to put sugar in Jamie Roberts coffee at Exeter services. Bunce threw a strop and went to sit by Morg for the rest of journey down to Ivybridge.
The new 4G pitch that the hosts had installed curtesy of the R.F.U looked very impressive and there was a touch of sadness at what Forest rugby had missed out on.
The Drybrook team went through their pre match drills and the travelling supporters turned up to cheer on their side as they took the next step into this new adventure.
It was tremendous start by Drybrook and they showed great skill and pace to take the game to their hosts.
Drybrook got their first points after three minutes when Ivybridge attempted to slow down the ball in the ruck. Tim Stevenson making no mistake with the resulting penalty kick.
Continuous pressure by Drybrook was only let down by their inability to secure their own ball at the set piece.
On nineteen minutes Drybrook again on the attack earned their second penalty chance when the Ivybridge back line were caught offside.
From the restart Drybrook in attempting to run the ball back at their opponents knocked on, and the pressure at the following scrum allowed Ivybridge their first chance of points.
Billy Pinkus slotted the kick and the home team were back in the game at six points to three.
Drybrook though were now firing on all cylinders and a fantastic move in the backs ended with Mitch Baldwin powering over for a Drybrook try. Stevenson converted and Drybrook moved onto thirteen points.
From the restart the Ivybridge outside half kicked long and Drybrook fullback James Clancy fielded the ball deep inside his own twenty two.
.
After a considerable delay the home touch judge raised his flag saying that Clancy had just clipped the touchline as he gathered the kick.
From the resulting catch and drive the Ivybridge second row George Wilson scored a try to bring the score back to thirteen points to eight in favour of the visitors, and it remained that way until the break.
Drybrook had put in a tremendous first half but the lack of control at their own set piece was a concern that the opposition coach readily picked up on and fed back to his team during the interval.
The second half began fairly evenly with both sides exchanging penalties. Firstly Pinkus punished Drybrook after their scrum again failed to withstand the pressure from the home forwards, then Stevenson replied when Ivybridge were penalised at the ruck in midfield. Unfortunately this was to be the last score Drybrook could add.
Ashley Howells went close to scoring on his return to the team but was held up over the line. Drybrook then mounted a series of drives and were unlucky that the ref was unsighted after replacement prop Dean Jelf clearly placed the ball over the whitewash.
Drybrook though were driven off the ball at the resulting scrum and on fifty five minutes a miss tackle allowed the Ivybridge centre George Wilson in for a converted try which saw Ivybridge take the lead for the first time in the game at eighteen points to sixteen.
Drybrook’s frailty at set piece allowed their hosts to dominate possession and territory and on sixty minutes winger Pinkus went in for a score that he also converted to put his side nine points clear.
Drybrook tried desperately to get back into the game but they were living off scraps and had no real answer when it came to the home team’s dominance at the set piece.
On seventy four minutes number nine Ben Watts
nipped over for a try for Ivybridge from a quickly taken tap penalty and Drybrook were now fourteen points adrift.
Still they continued to take the game to Ivybridge although over enthusiasm in the tackle meant they lost centre Danny Price to the sin bin.
What this young team does have is an inner steel and enthusiasm and they brought this to the fore as they went in search of a try and conversion which would have given them the bonus point their performance deserved.
Ivybridge’s Ben Watts was sent to the bin as Drybrook piled on the pressure and they kicked the penalty to the corner.
Again the home defence held firm and it was almost inevitable that from an attacking Drybrook scrum the ball broke loose and Ivybridge went the length of the field to score a final converted try that gave the final score line a rather flattering edge to it.
Drybrook will take a lot of positives from the game knowing that with players to come back and better control at the set piece they are more than capable of holding their own.
Once again the young players on the pitch especially Bailey Watts having to fill in at second row did very well and never once did they let their heads drop.
It was good to see the experience of Howells and Bourne back in the squad and Drybrook will look forward to having the majority of their senior players back for this week’s home game against Maidenhead.
Drive on Dry!
Drybrook: J Clancy, M Baldwin, D Price, B Large (Capt) L Roberts, T Stevenson, R Marsh, R Seville, A Stretch, M Hale, B Watts, M Renton, S Peaper, K Frowen, D Fissedon, M Bourne, D Jelf, A Howells.
