SINCE Victorian times, Clubs in England had been crying out for some form of league system in order to compete with soccer, which over the years had gained momentum and attracted both players and spectators away from the rugby game.

By the time World War One had broken out soccer had indeed taken over as the number one sport and even the professional rugby league in the North was struggling to compete with the round ball game.

Certainly in the amateur game of rugby union, the only real competition that had any meaning was the County Championship and that was a competition in which Devon had done extremely well.

The wheels of decision making turn very slowly but eventually, indeed some 100 years after the subject was first discussed, a league system was introduced nationally and every Club in England had the opportunity to become a part of the revolution.

In 1987 we were placed in the Devon and Cornwall League, or if you came from the other side of the Tamar, it would be referred to as the Cornwall and Devon League along with 10 other Clubs, Bideford, Exmouth, Falmouth, Hayle, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Penryn, Penzance and Newlyn, St. Austell and Teignmouth.

In the main, these were all Clubs that we had played before and we had every reason to feel confident of doing well.

We had just come off the back of a successful season finishing as runners-up in the Devon Merit Table and we had recorded wins against Teignmouth (twice), St Austell (twice), Hayle (twice), Paignton (twice), Exmouth and Bideford.

Whilst the composition of the league looked straightforward, the complication was that we played each side once, five would be at home and five away, much would depend on which teams travelled the strongest.

Our first league fixture was away at Bideford on September 12, 1987, where success has traditionally been hard to come by, but a hat-trick of tries from Mick Leyman, with Morley Yeandle landing two conversions and a penalty, saw us to a 19-3 victory.

A great start, especially as it was an away victory.

Our next game would be at home against Exmouth, who by now had already played two games and recorded two victories.

Once again, Mick Leyman was our try scorer, with Andy Dafters landing three penalties and Morley Yeandle, one, as we were again victorious, 16-6.

October 10 and a testing trip to Falmouth, a team we had met only once previously some 17 years earlier when we lost 3-16. They were very much an unknown quantity but this time we returned home victorious, tries from Phil Dellamuro, Andy Dafters and John May, plus a penalty try and three conversions from Dafters were enough to secure a comfortable win, made even more enjoyable as the home side failed to score, 22-0, we would certainly have settled for that.

Hayle were next up and it was their turn to travel. That was particularly significant as Hayle had been on our fixture list for many years.

We would play them at home one year and away the next and generally, the victory went to the home side.

Fortunately, that sequence continued with a 31-15 win for us and again, Dafters was on the scoresheet with two tries and even more impressively he completed the "full house" with three conversions, a penalty and a drop goal.

Mick Leyman added a try along with a penalty try to complete the scoring and that was four from four. The next game would complete the first half of the season with a trip to Newton Abbot, the only other side with a 100 per cent record at the time, albeit from four defeats in their four games.

Of course, bottom v top games can often spring a surprise but not on this occasion as the home side were completely taken apart as we romped home 50-3.

Mick Leyman and Andy Phillips each scored twice, Dafters once again on the scoresheet with a try, four conversions and a penalty, Steve Wright, David Wadsworth, John May and Phil Dellamuro each bagging a try and Morley Yeandle, with a conversion completed the scoring.

Whilst we had hoped for a good first season in the league set up, to have reached half-way with a 100 per cent record had surpassed all expectations.

That was achieved, having scored 138 points and conceding a mere 27.

However, hot on our heels at the half-way stage were Penryn and Penzance, both of whom had only dropped a point and Exmouth a further point behind.

One more league game before Christmas would see Paignton defeated at Blagdon 39-7. John May, with a hat-trick of tries, led the scoring with Leyman adding another two, Phil Dellamuro one and a penalty try, Dafters with four conversions and a penalty, completed the scoring.

The first game after Christmas meant a trip to Penryn on January 2 and a 0-18 defeat somewhat burst the bubble and dropped us to third place, the title race was certainly hotting up but we were no longer in the driving seat and Penzance at home was looming, although by now they had slipped to fourth and whilst not out of the promotion race altogether, could still have a bearing on who would claim the league title.

The power of our forwards had been a huge advantage for us, proved by the fact that against Penzance we were awarded our fourth penalty try of the season, another try for Leyman and one from Tim Garner with Dafters adding two conversions and two penalties rounded off a 22-10 victory.

The win was made all the sweeter when it was learned that Exmouth had beaten Penryn and we were back at the top with two games remaining against two sides in the bottom four.

Two wins should see us through although Exmouth were on the same number of points, we were ahead on a considerably better points difference.

There was a two-month gap between the Penzance game and the trip to St. Austell in early March.

We were pushed to the limit by the home side, Phil Dellamuro scored the only try of the game with Morley Yeandle adding the conversion and two penalties in the 12-3 victory.

The final game would bring Teignmouth to Exhibition Road and a victory would surely mean promotion.

A brace of tries from John May plus one each for Mick Leyman and Fran Morris plus a conversion and drop goal from Andy Dafters saw us home 21-0.

However, it was not quite over as Exmouth still had one game to play and a win against Paignton by 57 points would see them as Champions.

They did win but not by enough and so the first Champions of the first Devon and Cornwall League were Crediton.

DOWN MEMORY LANE

The Memory Lane stroll, or very often in this case a stagger, comes from Roger Holloway and although he does not recount a particular game, his memories are no doubt reminders of the days of yore when leagues did not exist but there was plenty of fun to be had.

Roger recalled that his rugby career began when, as a boarder at QE he wrote to “Gifty” Steer, the Club Chairman at that time, around 1964, asking if he could be considered to play for the Club Colts XV.

“Gifty” was never one to miss an opportunity to grab a new player for the Club and so began Roger’s rugby career.

Under the tutelage of the late Cecil Hamlin, Roger had great fun playing in the Colts with players such as Cris Stockman, John Phillips and Mike John, to name but a few.

As he progressed into the senior ranks, Roger Captained the Seconds for a while, with Peter Howison, and played a few games in the First XV, before gaining a more regular spot, and playing in the back row with Fran Thorne and Mike Leach were probably the real highlights.

Whilst the games against Exeter and St. Lukes College will live long in the memory for Roger, he always enjoyed the forays into North Devon where the games involved a little more of the "dark arts", which fell outside the laws of the game!

South Molton and Bideford were always good scalps to take, and the Fox and Hounds at Eggesford, after a victory there and under the leadership of Eric Rodd, were always nights to remember.

As Roger says, these are memories of a miss-spent youth that still go on today!

Paul Harris