Withycombe RFC fought valiantly to the end in securing a late 19-14 victory over Ivybridge, writes Adam Curtis.

With both sides getting the new year off to a rocky start, a win would be vital to start the turnaround of fortunes, this looked to be optimistically possible with the visit of Ivybridge Vandals who currently sit at the foot of the table and were well beaten by Withy on their own (artificial) turf.

Withy got the game underway and before long, it was clear that this was a very different side they were facing, one with much more pace and speed at the breakdown.

The early pressure by the Vandals was rewarded after 12 minutes as they pounced on a poorly secured ball inside the Withy in-goal area to earn a seven-point lead. However, this was just the wake-up call Withies needed, and just four minutes later they levelled the scores courtesy of a Max Cooke break and Lewis Tose conversion.

After half-time, Ivybridge were quick to strike and regain the lead. However, slowly but surely, the pace set by the Vandals began to slow and Withy gradually gained the upper hand. This advantage was assisted by Ivybridge losing Flanker Tom Hancocks to the sin bin.

The man advantage worked well for Withy as they began to play with some real fire and following a great team effort, Matt Brambles crashed over the line.

Ivybridge once again, picked up their pace to regain some control and before long began to put more heavy pressure on Withy on their own 5m line.

Then, out of nowhere, speedy fly half Lewis Tose found himself with the ball in his hands through an interception and 95 metres of grass ahead of him… the footrace began and with metres to spare it had looked like he’d been caught, but with the lightest of stumbles, Lewis continued across the try line to score in Clubhouse Corner to an erupting celebration! Matt Edworthy topped up the points to put Withy five points clear with two minutes left to play.

Ivybridge then dropped the ball on the try-line in the final play of a dramatic match.