Paignton second XV 7

With the start of the Devon League Two season next week, Dartmouth were hoping to keep up their winning momentum from last week.

The team was looking to continue to improve their game while introducing new players into the system for those that were unable to play through work or injury.

To this end the Darts started with a big centre pairing of captain John Dingle and Glen Allison, who no doubt were asked to test the Paignton defence with some strong running.

This approach paid dividends within 10 minutes of the start, with Dingle breaking through to score twice in quick succession, one of which was converted by Dave Champion, for 12-0 to the home side.

Thoughts of a Dart­mouth rampage were soon stifled though, as Paignton stepped up a gear, turning defence into attack and causing the Darts some problems of their own.

However, with Karl Caunter, Miles Chur­chill and Adam Sharam putting in some hefty tackles and bossing the loose, the Paignton team were going nowhere.

After a flurry of Dartmouth player changes, it was good to see Ricky Seymour take the field after a long injury lay-off. The half finished with no further scores and so the Riversiders were 12-0 to the good.

The second half saw a change in the second row, with Alex Hassard appearing for his first action of the season and Seymour making way for Caunter again.

As in the first half Dartmouth got off to a great start, with Picot scoring after a lovely offload from Allison that gave the Paignton defence no chance.

Champion converted from in front of the posts and Dartmouth led by 19 points to nil.

If the Dartmouth team thought the second half was going to be easier than the first, however, Paignton made them think again with a try and conversion of their own, shortly followed by a contentious yellow card for Hassard.

With 20 minutes to play the Darts were going to have to work hard, but with Caunter now in his stride, snaffling any loose ball and contributing to several turnovers, the Dart­mouth side were not going to let up.

A final Jack Clark try from a five-metre line-out, catch and drive and conversion by Champion, made the winning score 26-7 to the home side.

All in all, a relatively comfortable win for Dartmouth, who again found a way to win, with a different but effective ensemble of players.

The Dartmouth man-of-the-match award was won by Karl Caunter. On Saturday Dartmouth are away to Old Techs, with the team travelling by mini bus, for a 2.30pm kick-off.