South West Division Tribute Devon Two

Salcombe 9

This was always going to be a tight game and the scoreline backs that assertion.

Richard Lobb had a penalty in the first half, which was followed by a penalty from the Crabs' Chris Drew five minutes later. The game seemed to be more about the fly halves than the other players.

Upon reflection, the result was a fair one, and all the scoreline did was to send Salcombe into third and Dartmouth into fourth position in Devon Two.

The large crowd was probably expecting a more agricultural game of rugby rather than both teams' display.

Dartmouth, which went into the game with three key players unavailable, will no doubt bounce back and put some points past the other Devon Two teams and try for second spot, but although mathematically possible, the chances of Tamar Sarries and Torrington slipping up are remote.

Dave Clarke from DTR Building Services sponsored the match, and from what Dave was saying later in the afternoon, he would like to be more involved with the club.

Before the game Dartmouth RFC's ­committee put on a luncheon at the Royal Castle Hotel, which was organised and served by Nigel Way BEM and his staff. The luncheon's wine was kindly sponsored by Mark Malley. The president of the DRFU Mo Jackson also attended, while the guest speaker was Steve Battersby, who provided his captive audience with a cheery start to the afternoon.

The luncheon was well-received and a total of 47 people attended, which raised some much-needed money for the club.

Les Jefferies, his partner Hayley King and Steve Atkins organised the venue, with the three of them saying they would like to make it a permanent occasion in the future.

Dartmouth may be in action again this week if Steve Atkins can get a team to play a friendly.