LACKLUSTRE tackling and the boot of the Crabs' kicker Chris Drew were to blame for Dartmouth's defeat to rivals Salcombe in a friendly on Saturday.

Dartmouth took a few fringe players down to the windy town and were without stalwart Kenny Raisin who normally runs the line for the Riversiders week in, week out.

But he was ruled out after pulling a muscle in his left calf and replaced by Richard Darch. Coach Steve Atkins was also away on a break, and so Dartmouth were coached by Simon Entwhistle and Nick Shillabeer. Young gun Adam Sharam played a full 40 minutes on his debut and didn't disappoint, putting in tackles and making a nuisance of himself on the park.

Carl Woodgate showed he's also no slouch, putting in a solid 80 minutes alongside fellow prop Miguel Tenierio, who made some bone-crunching tackles.

But lucklustre challenges, an on-form Salcombe kicker in fly-half Chris Drew and home advantage led to the downfall of the Riversiders. Two tries from Salcombe skipper Darren Hopkins, who was like grease lightning down the right wing, in the first 12 minutes didn't help Dartmouth's cause.

Another Crabs' try from Oli Masters 14 minutes later and eight points from number 10 Chris Drew and it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon for Dartmouth. John Dingle had a word with the dejected Dartmouth XV and, as he always does, led by example and got a try back for the Riversiders with some slick passing.

From a scrum, Dingle picked the ball from the back of the scrum and slipped it to Martin Sharam, who played in Charlie Watson. He popped the ball nicely to John Dingle again, who powered his way over for the first try of the afternoon for Dartmouth and took the score to 23-5 at half-time. Simon Entwhistle made a couple of changes after the break, bringing on Jake Brigewood for Scott Silsbury and skipper Declan Hammond for Adam Sharam. That tactical change proved fruitful for the Rivesiders and it was flanker Charlie Watson who scored next.

Again Dartmouth's forwards, who were dominant in the scrums, pushed Salcombe off the ball.

John Dingle picked the ball up, Richard Lobb, calling the move and Charlie Watson moved out wide to receive the ball and touched down on the far right-hand side of the posts.

Eight minutes later Luke Bonstow got on the scoresheet with a brilliant interception try. He broke the line and intercepted a Salcombe move and sprinted to the left-hand side of the posts for a magnificent score.

But, just when the Riversiders thought they were in touching distance of the home side, the Crabs hit back with a well-worked try themselves through Liam Wills which made the score 30-15.

The Riversiders were to have the last say, though, and a well-worked try from Richard Lobb and a conversion took the final score to Salcombe 30, Dartmouth 22.