Newton Abbot Rugby Club All Whites Vs Truro Rugby Club

In front of a large Friday night crowd, the Newton Abbot Rugby Club All Whites went down fighting to an abrasive and street wise Truro side who look likely to feature near the top of the Regional 2 Tribute South West come April.

Truro took an early lead through the boot fly-half of Ashley Hosking with a penalty. Hosking was influential throughout and his kick to the corner on 15 minutes resulted in a catch and drive try for visiting hooker Luis Powell. Hosking duly knocked over the extras to give the Cornish side a 10 nil lead.

Newton, who had been forced into an early change with No8 Max Snowdon going off injured to be replaced by the returning Josh Vickridge, started to find some fluency and the game was evenly matched.

On 22 minutes Truro went down to 14 men when experienced flanker Tom Duncan was binned for a high tackle on Newton second rower Mckenzie Strath, who didn’t return to the pitch, meaning Newton had to make their second change after only the first quarter of the game. Will Denbow was the man to come off the bench for Strath. Hosking added a second penalty with the first half nearing an end.

With bits of niggle all over the pitch, on 38 minutes things really boiled over and a 10 man brawl on half way when play was deep in the Newton 22 resulted in a red card for replacement Vickridge. Given punches were being thrown by both sides, for only one red card to be shown by the referee seemed an interesting decision.

To rub salt into the home side wound, Truro scored a second try on the stroke of half-time with winger Lewis Bostock going over, meaning Newton turned around to play into Clubhouse Corner for the 2nd half down to 14 men and trailing 18-0.

As per last week at Sidmouth, Newton had to start the second period strongly and they did exactly that. All action flanker Ben Rockey pounced on a loose ball after fellow back rower Rob Snowdon had charged down an attempted box kick on the visiting teams 10 metre line. Fly Half Will Castleton potted the extras.

10 minutes later, Newton got themselves right back into the match. A box kick from scrum half Josh Davey was followed up with an excellent chase and attempted gather from winger Reuben Brinkley. Brinkley was tackled early by the scrambling Truro defender who went to the bin and resulted in a penalty try for the home side, making it 14-18 with 20 minutes to play.

Newton Abbot Rugby Club All Whites made their way back to the Truro 22 and close to the line but a lack of patience in the red zone resulted in the away side clearing their lines. The bruising nature of the match, the early changes and the red card all combined to zapping the home teams energy but the boys stuck valiantly to the task but couldn’t quite find the opportunity to get into a lead.

Indeed Truro went back to their mauling game from a catch and drive and hooker Powell went over for his second of the evening and denied Newton what would have been a well deserved losing bonus point. Mentions must go to Newton skipper Jake Monnington who carried strongly for 80 minutes from Inside Centre and forwards Charlie Dore and Matt Dowrick who both got through huge amounts of work around the park in both defence and attack.

The game finished 25-14 and Truro made the trip home with the points but knowing full well they had been in a game. Newton will need to start better next week when they make the trip down to Cornwall to take on Wadebridge. Wadebridge were impressive winners of the same league as Newton last season and will certainly be a stern test.