Withycombe Rugby Club crashed over five impressive tries in a superb 36-0 victory at home to a shellshocked Torquay Athletic.
Tom Cooke confidently kicked and was influential in the game’s first try when he made good use of the new 50:22 rule to hand Withy a well-placed line out back inside the Tic’s 22’. Withy won the ball and drove down the pitch and over the line, allowing for Prop, Chris Gibbons to score.
As the early dominance continued, a break from Captain Liam Cullen at halfway put us back in their 22’ once again – and with another penalty and a kick out to touch, the ball exchanged hands multiple times through each member of the team before channelling the play through the forwards, culminating in a try for Mike Richards.
The third try arrived when sustained pressure in the 5m zone forced a gap for Vice Captain Danny Sansom to bulldoze through the defence and score under the posts, putting Withycombe 22 points up at half-time.
With the slope now in their favour, Athletic kicked off the second half with some good attacking play but a fantastic tackle bundled the ball into touch to relieve the immediate pressure, as the Withy defence stood strong to deny any real opportunities.
The much sought-after fourth try came on 62 minutes, when another catch and drive from ten metres out travelled effortlessly across the line for Max Cooke to score in Clubhouse Corner, much to the joy of the roaring supporters. From one scoring brother to another, Tom Cooke’s touch line conversion attempt goes over in perfect fashion.
After repelling more Torquay pressure, the Withies stole the ball back from the line and cleared back to our 10m line. Athletic tried again to get back down the field, but the green and black wall was solid – nothing was getting through!
Withies finished off the scoring with Man of the Match Mike Richards, who completed his brace of tries with a crashing run over the line, taking a couple of defenders with him, with the relentless Cooke adding a final conversion.
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