THE ‘Quins had a particularly tough start to the season and felt the effects of the early season injuries and unavailabilities.

The opening two games saw heavy home defeats against Barnstaple and Cullompton but the visit of Devonport the following week produced a 32-26 victory in a hugely entertaining game.

The first away game of the season was at newly-promoted Paignton and in fairness a game we would have expected to have won. However, we came off second best in a 17-30 defeat which was particularly disappointing.

The season got back on track with four successive Merit Table victories against Sidmouth (23-10), Bideford (33-15), Tiverton (12-7) and most impressively Ivybridge away (32-29).

Five wins from the opening eight games was a really good return in the Merit Table especially as the three defeats were in the first four games and we were comfortably in the top half.

The standard of rugby at this level is improving year-on-year and there are some very strong Second Fifteen’s with Barnstaple and Exmouth playing at National League level and Brixham, Ivybridge and Newton Abbot in South West League One.

For clubs such as ourselves, these are good fixtures in which to test ourselves and the players certainly rose to the occasion.

The next three games saw us come up against the top two in the Merit Table and we saw just why Okehampton and Exmouth filled those two spots. A 0-50 home loss against a very good Okehampton side who eventually won the Merit Table, was followed by a 17-34 reverse against Exmouth.

Sandwiched between those two results was a creditable 22-all draw at Newton Abbot. Mixed fortunes followed over the next few games, defeat at Brixham (10-15) victory at Cullompton (18-0) followed by defeats at Devonport and Exmouth although we still remained in mid-table.

Paignton and Sidmouth were defeated in style but a surprise loss at Bideford, our first against them for more than five years, was a setback.

The “double” was achieved over neighbours Tiverton with a 15-5 victory before going down narrowly (22-24) at home against Ivybridge.

A last minute breakaway try for the home side at Barnstaple meant a 19-25 defeat in a game where our pack was so dominant that we were awarded two penalty tries as Barum were unable to cope with our scrum.

An excellent 14-12 victory over Newton Abbot was good preparation for the daunting trip to Okehampton, who by now were almost certain to win the Merit Table.

Again, though we rose to the occasion and only a last minute penalty for the home side took what would have been a memorable victory away from us. The single point defeat (15-16) was a bitter pill to swallow especially as we had been on the end of a 50 point drubbing earlier in the season.

The Merit Table fixtures were wound up at Brixham in a remarkable game that saw us 14 points down with barely 10 minutes played. However, such is the strength of character with this side, we bounced back and ended up winners by a single point (39-38).

The ‘Quins finally finished in eighth position in Devon Merit Table One which is effectively the bottom half of the table. However, only three points separated third placed Barnstaple and ourselves and, had it not been for a couple of defeats against sides that we would have normally expected a more positive result, Paignton and Bideford, we could just have easily have ended in third place.

The ‘Quins record for the season was P27, W14, D1, L12, F606, A 556.

Prop Macauley Jones played in 23 games, second row Tom Phillips 20, threequarter Hayden Hill 19, centre, Dan Cooper, Prop Rob Leach and scrum-half Dave Rich 18, second row Richard Gray and back row forward Sam Rowe 16.

Sam Harris, Sam Rowe and Dave Rich each scored five tries, Chris Simpson, Tom Ronchetti, Dan Yendall, Macauley Jones and Richard Gray, each with four, were the leading try scorers. Ronchetti also landed 27 conversions and five penalties.

Much credit goes to Jeff Bowers and Martin Rich for their efforts in managing the Seconds. They put a huge effort in every week to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Third Fifteen’s

The Third Fifteen’s began the defence of their title in disappointing fashion as we were unable to raise a side for the trip to Withycombe and so began the campaign with a points deduction.

Again the knock-on effect of unavailabilities hits the third team more than any other and we simply ran out of players. However, we did get a side together for the trip to Honiton and lost a tight game by two points.

Plymstock paid a visit to Crediton for the next Merit Table game which we lost and the following week, at Torquay, we were blitzed by the home side with a 0-94 defeat.

In fairness, heads never dropped and the players took it on the chin and bounced back strongly with a 14-10 victory in a friendly against Okehampton Thirds.

Two more friendly fixtures followed with a victory over Bideford Thirds and a defeat at Torrington Seconds.

The first midweek game under lights against a very good Exeter Engineers’ side resulted in a win for the visitors.

Whilst a floodlit game is something of a novelty and certainly enjoyable, it certainly has its problems at third team level.

Having played the previous Saturday it proved difficult to get a team out for the trip to Kingsbridge the following Saturday. Three games in eight is perhaps too much to expect for players who enjoy the game for the social benefits and prefer not to train on a regular basis.

A couple of Merit Table defeats against Teignmouth (the eventual Merit Table Two Champions) and South Molton was followed by victories in friendlies against Tiverton Thirds (33-12) and Saltash Seconds (57-3).

A trip to Exmouth in early December for a Merit Table game against a strong Exmouth Thirds saw us suffer a 50-29 defeat. However, again we bounced back with a comprehensive 50-21 victory against Honiton Seconds.

In the New Year, a second defeat at the hands of Exmouth was followed by two successive Merit Table victories against Torquay (12-0) and South Molton (41-14).

Against Tiverton Thirds in another friendly, we ran out comfortable winners (55-0) before recording another Merit Table victory against Withycombe (55-12).

Exeter Engineers’ paid another visit to Blagdon and we made a much better game of it than the previous game against them, two late tries gave the Students a 36-24 victory.

With the season drawing to a close the Thirds made the trip to Teignmouth and were soundly beaten and a trip to Wadebridge for a friendly against their Seconds was also lost. On both occasions we put up spirited performances.

The final Merit Table game at Topsham was lost but an entertaining game against a touring side from Woking was won 39-19.

In the final table, we finished fourth from bottom but it would be unfair to judge this purely from our final position in the Merit Table.

Only two Clubs in Devon managed to put out a Third Fifteen almost every week - ourselves and Exmouth.

Certainly Barnstaple began with a Third Fifteen but withdrew through lack of players, indeed they struggled to get a Second Fifteen out on a few occasions.

All our other opponents were Second Fifteen’s with players who have considerable experience of First Fifteen league rugby.

The fact that on only two occasions were we unable to field a team was a remarkable achievement and perhaps that is how we should judge success.

In total, the Thirds played 25 games, won 10, lost 15 scoring 624 points and conceding 802.

John James and Ben Jackson appeared in 22 games, Sam Ronchetti 21, Pete Vallance 20, Andy Dafters and Sam Locke 19, Kevin Ellis 18, Nathan Jackson 16 and Jake Henson 15.

Ed Marshall was the top try scorer with seven, Ben Jackson six, Nathan Jackson and Paul Hawkins five apiece. Phil Anning landed 18 conversions and three penalties.

Tributes should also be paid to the “back room” workers who put so much effort into getting a team out each week. Martin Phillips and Rodney Matthews have done an incredible job throughout the season and to get 15 players on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon can take as many as 60 telephone calls, which is certainly an onerous task that deserves recognition.

Paul Harris