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Champions-elect Ivybridge know that if they can beat Torquay Athletic at Cross-in-Hand tomorrow they will have one hand on the league trophy, which could be theirs as early as Wednesday, when they are due to take on already-relegated Paignton Saxons writes Tim Leigh.

Two wins from those two games will see Ivybridge declared champions with three games of the season remaining, a magnificent achievement from a team that, impossible though it seems now, had briefly flirted with relegation last season.

This season, however, they have been supreme, averaging nearly 40 points a game and conceding fewer than anybody else in the league to boot.

The whole of this young squad have been pulling in the same direction and playing for each other, and with coaches Paul Setter and Neil Thomson directing proceedings calmly, the mantra of one game at a time is still firmly in place ahead of tomorrow's fixture.

The reason Ivybridge are in such a strong position is partly due to their demolition of second-placed Teignmouth last weekend, with what was expected to be possibly their toughest test of the season being put away with the minimum of fuss.

Coach Neil Thomson wanted to make special mention to the army of travelling supporters who made the trip for this vital game and who nearly drowned out the home fans, helping spur the players on to a very impressive victory.

Ivybridge opened the scoring on five minutes when Teigns were penalised at the scrum, allowing fly-half Matt Grieveson to register his first points of the afternoon with the resulting penalty.

Before this, however, they unfortunately lost rookie flanker Alex Hall to a dead leg, necessitating a reshuffle of the pack.

With 10 minutes gone, Teignmouth showed why are they second in the table with a well-worked attack, chipping over the top and gathering to take the lead at 7-3.

This proved to be short-lived, however, as nine minutes later centre Jordan Anderton made a superb break before being hauled down just short of the try-line.

From the ensuing ruck, the ever-alert scrum-half Ben Watts darted over to give Ivy the lead, Grieveson adding the extras.

This was the start of a purple patch for the visitors, with the next try coming on 26 minutes when, after a penalty was kicked to touch, the forwards won the line-out and drove over Don Loomes for another converted try.

Things were going from bad to worse for Teignmouth as two minutes later Ivybridge scored again. Anderton was once more the instigator, carrying the ball well before releasing centre partner Lewis Paterson, who showed his strength and speed to finish in the corner from 40 metres out.

Grieveson missed the tough conversion, but did slot over a second penalty before the break to leave Ivybridge well in control at 7-25 up.

Ivybridge didn't waste any time securing the bonus point in the second half, with winger Haydn Coles fielding an attempted clearance and beginning a move that included full-back Tom Scoles and George deMendonca, before Paterson was on hand once more to grab his second for 7-30.

Tom Scoles was on the shoulder of lock George Wilson to finish off the second row's fine break to take Ivybridge's lead out to 30 points as Grieveson converted.

Teignmouth came back into the game at this point and scored two tries of their own to close the gap to 19-37 before Ivybridge deservedly had the final say with just minutes to go.

Tom Scoles went on a searing run before offloading to prop Matt Finn, who unselfishly shipped the ball on to George deMendonca despite being able to score himself, a sacrifice that earned him the praise of coach Thomson.

With Grieveson fittingly adding the two points, Ivybridge had scored six tries against their closest rivals to ram home their superiority.

Thomson said: 'We pretty much took everything they threw at us, I think the margin of victory may have surprised a few of the teams below us.

'At the moment, we're still taking it one game at a time, as we have done all season, we just want to keep playing well and winning.'

With Ivybridge in this sort of mood, it is hard to believe anything can stop exactly that happening from now until the end of the season.