DARTMOUTH held Newton Abbot 2nds to a highly entertaining draw in this friendly encounter on Saturday.

Vice-captain Declan Hammond, an ex-Newton Abbot player, was particularly influential for the Riversiders in a fiercely competitive game.

Players like Ben Peters, Jake Bridgwood, Sam Churchill, Jai Prettyjohns, John Dingle, Carl Woodgate and, of course, the ever-impressive Karl Caunter to name just a few, excelled for the home side.

Newton 2nds didn't know what had hit them as Dartmouth's backs ran and tackled courageously.

Their forwards, meanwhile, were completely wrapped up like an early Christmas present by Dartmouth's tigerish forwards.

Damien Pye dominated their hooker, while Carl Woodgate and Dave Cudd went crunching in at the opposition props. The All Whites went ahead with the first try on 25 minutes, but missed the resultant conversion.

Dartmouth hit back quickly with a well-taken penalty from their perfect 10 Richard Lobb, who from the halfway line gave the ball one almighty hoof, with it nearly ending up in Sainsbury's car park.

Hammond gave away a penalty in the dying minutes of the first half for coming from the side of a ruck, although the crowd from the sideline said the ball was out. Newton made no mistake in taking the three points to make it 3-8 going into half-time.

Joint coach Steve Atkins couldn't believe that his team went in the losers at half-time and urged his men to keep doing what they had been doing in the second half.

The Riversiders did just that, coming out revitalised and it wasn't long before Sam Churchill got on the scoresheet after finishing off a flowing move on the far left-hand side.

John Dingle had made one of his trademark breaks, taking on three Newton players, before popping the ball to Martin Sharam.

He spun the ball to Richard Lobb, who played in Jake Bridgwood, who drew a couple of Newton players and spun the ball out to the sprinting Sam Churchill, who in turn surged over for one of the best tries of the season.

Richard Lobb just missed the conversion to make the score 8-8 with 18 minutes of the second half gone. Steve Atkins, happy with his side's workrate, made a few replacements, bringing off Martin Sharam for new scrum-half Harry Moores, who had an excellent run-out.

Scott Silsbury was taken off for Will Lockerbie and Ben Peters also came off for a well-deserved rest after putting in some crunching tackles during the game.

Following the replacements made by both sides, the game seemed to slow down a bit.

A penalty apiece made the final score 11-11.

The aim of this game was to see how far the Riversiders have come on in the last season and, on the evidence of this game, they have come a long way.

The result was particularly impressive bearing in mind Dartmouth rested seven first-team players due to holidays, injuries and work commitments.

The Riversiders' second team were due to play Brixham 3rds away on Wednesday, before our press deadline.

Tomorrow, Dartmouth 1sts have another friendly away at Paignton 3rds.

There is a quiz night at Dartmouth Rugby Club at 7.30pm next Friday.

Teams of four are invited to pay £10 each to take part in the event.