Anyone familiar with Argaum's history knows that Salcombe were a 'bogey' side for the club in the first part of the 20th Century. That has continued in recent years with last season's corresponding fixture being the Chief's first league victory over 'The Crabs' for over 25 years. Confidence was high on the back of two decent pre-season home wins but it was the visitors that once again prevailed by the difference of one conversion. The fixture, originally to be played at Salcombe, was swapped to Bickleigh Down due to the nature of the Twomeads pitch. Whilst there is plenty of green grass at home, the match was played on the second team pitch as the ground is still very firm due to the lack of rain. On cue for the start of the league season, the rain swept in from the moors, too late to soften the pitch but enough to contribute to some tricky playing conditions.

Argaum were disrupted by injury throughout the afternoon with a player pulling out in the warm up and a number of players suffering injuries in the first half. Head coach Dean Avery was called upon for a cameo appearance in the latter stages. Playing down the slope, Argaum started brightly and soon had the vistiors under pressure. After a series of driving mauls it was hooker Darren ewers who got the touch down in the corner to put the hosts ahead. Salcombe battled well to get out of trouble with some prodigious kicking and it was into the second quarter before Jake Turfrey was able to extend the lead with a long range penalty. Argaum then lost a player to the sin bin which Salcombe exploited to the full. A try under the sticks was followed up by another when Argaum spilled the ball in midfield and lost the foot race after a fly hack through. With both tries converted Argaum trailed at half time by 14 points to 8.

The Chiefs knew they would have to do a lot of defending in the second period playing up the slope, and it was to their huge credit that they restricted Salcombe to a single second half penalty. Nevertheless establishing field position wasn't easy and too often the Salcombe kicking would pen Argaum back into their own half. There were some concerted periods of pressure though and good phase play saw the ball fed out wide on the left for Jake Turfrey to score in the corner. He then added the conversion from wide out to set up a grand stand finish. Both sides had chances in the dying minutes but neither could establish enough continuity in a frantic finish to the game and ultimately Salcombe held on for the two point win. The Chiefs will be disappointed with the result but there was much to be proud of in the performance on the day in what could be a very tight division. Next up is a local derby at home against Tamar Saracens.

Follow this link for report and Head Coach Dean Avery's post-match reaction

Many thanks to Toby and Joe Liberson for the match photos