Dartmouth RFC 69,

Torquay Athletic 3rd XV 20

The Riversiders, Dartmouth RFC, are notoriously slow starters of most seasons, with minds still full of the summer and regatta, but this year it was different.

Torquay third XV are the club's usual friendly opponents before the rigours of the League matches set in and they have enough old heads on not-so young legs to give the Riversiders a lesson or two in the dark arts of the game.

And so the match started when the Tics scored a relatively easy try after three minutes.

Before Dart could say 'Here we go again', Dartmouth hit back when Picot, a new recruit from France who plays wing/full-back, showed the defence a clean pair of heels to equalise.

Things were going Tics' way and after 20 minutes the score was 12-20 in their favour, mostly as a result of the work of their heavier forwards.

The new scummaging law, whereby the opposing props have to bind with their arms before engaging, was cheerfully refereed by Gary Lock and certainly seemed effective in reducing the 'hit' that has been causing so much trouble at all levels of the game.

Dartmouth is not without its own set of grey-beards but the fitness and skills of Nick Shillabeer, Andy Williams, Matthew Putt, Martin Sharam, Rob Varney and the Daddy-of-them-all, Dave Gibson, began to show through.

Gibbo received a nasty facial cut that needed hospital attention and then Dartmouth settled down, started to win good ball through much better scrummaging and from loose ball won by John Dingle and David Rudling, another new player for the club.

This enabled the backs to show their speed and good handling.

Their pace was too much for the Tics players and, to the delight of a good crowd, they played some dazzling rugby in the near-perfect conditions at Norton.

Tries came aplenty – 11 at the last count – with top try-scorers Shane Hutchings, with four, Dan Jones two, Putt, Scott Silsbury, Shillabeer and Carl Caunter all also going over, plus Mark Lobb, who converted his own try as well as six others.

The coaches of the team, Chris Chater, Lee Chase and Nick Shillabeer, must be very happy with the performance and it was a most encouraging start for the Riversiders, who start their Devon Two League matches tomorrow away to Buckfastleigh, on one of the prettiest grounds in rugby.

Come and cheer.