Bideford Chiefs mix things up in demolition of Dartmouth

Bideford RFC mixed up the troops for a trip to bottom club Dartmouth in the Counties 2 Tribute Devon League and still came home with an impressive 61-17 victory.

The Chiefs started on the front foot and raced into a 12-0 lead with scores from Charlie Stevenson and Mitch Harris.

Dartmouth, who have endured a torrid campaign, crossed the whitewash in response but were then pummelled into submission by a ruthless Bideford display, with Sam Bola, Nick Bone and Stevenson adding further tries. Reece Pearn was in imperious form with the boot.

The scores were 12-33 at the break and the Chiefs again stepped on the gas, with Stevenson completing hat-trick and Dave Evans and Harris also touched down to take the points tally beyond 60.

“It was a great start from us, we were completely on top and playing well,” Bideford boss Bradley Goaman. “We had 70 percent possession in the first 20 minutes, we were forcing errors and we played off the back of that.

“There was frustration in the second half and playing with the slope and swirling wind meant we could not get a foothold in the game, but obviously coming away with five points was the result we wanted.

“Dartmouth made it hard and credit to them but we need to play for 80 minutes and that’s the challenge ahead.”

In the same division, South Molton battled bravely before going down to a 48-22 defeat at league leaders Devonport Services. Matt Hurrell, Reid Allen, George Down and Jake Cook scored the Molton tries, with George Down delivering a top performance for the visitors.