Tribute Devon Two
Salcombe 0,
Dartmouth 49
Dartmouth travelled to local rivals Salcombe this week, aiming for a repeat of their last visit when they beat their hosts with something to spare.
Well, if that was the plan the execution was withering, with Dartmouth outscoring their opponents 49-0, a commanding performance that while not perfect was very convincing, with the interchange between forwards and backs really beginning to gel.
Though early days, the Darts now top the league, with three played and maximum points of 15 and many more to come if this display was anything to go by.
Dartmouth were quickly off the mark with a try from Karl Caunter, who chose to spurn the four-man overlap outside him and after some suspect tackling from the home defence broke through to score under the posts.
He thus avoided what would have surely been some choice words from the rest of the team if his largesse had failed, with Jack Clark nailing the subsequent conversion.
After pressure from the Darts pack through a five-metre line-out, the ball squirted back over the Salcombe try line, with second row Ricky Seymour pouncing on the loose ball to touch down for his first try for Dartmouth.
With Clark finding the mark from his favoured left side, it was 14-0 to the Darts with 14 minutes played.
Straight from the ensuing kick-off, Dartmouth claimed the ball and scored a great try with a ball that was passed along the back line with winger Ben Peters.
Still with plenty to do, he shrugged off a couple of tackles to score in the corner, but Clark was unable to add to his tally as the ball rebounded from the crossbar, so the score stayed at 19-0.
Not content with kicking the points, Jack Clark now scored a try but was unable to convert his own effort, but with 22 minutes gone, Dartmouth were averaging just over a point a minute with the score at 24-0.
As the half time whistle loomed Caunter got his brace with another try that was unconverted, but Dartmouth turned around with a try bonus point in the bag and 29 points to the good.
Shortly after the break, the Darts went to the bench with the Clark brothers making way for Lorien Spurdle and Alex Parrott, shortly followed by the replacement of Dec Hammond, Karl Caunter and Richard Lobb with Glen Allison, Myles Churchill and Dave Champion.
With fresh legs on the park, it still fell to Ricky Seymour to bag his second try of the game and Dartmouth’s sixth.
Dave Champion now had his chance with the tee but was unable to improve the Dartmouth kicking stats as his conversion went wide.
Dartmouth made three further switches to the line-up, but were unable to add the the score until the 70-minute mark, when Jason Gibbs scored two tries in quick succession, followed by a Spurdle score in the last minute.
None of these were converted, with the final tally being a nine-try 49-0 victory to Dartmouth.
The Darts man-of-the-match was Ben Peters, but it could have easily been awarded to a number of the Dartmouth team as they all played with an esprit de corps that bodes well for the future.
Dartmouth are home to Buckfastleigh Ramblers on Saturday, in round four of the Devon Two league, with kick-off at 2.30pm at Norton Park.