ALTHOUGH falling to a narrow 27-35 defeat to local rivals Paignton, Kingsbridge showed glimpses of real quality in their Devon Intermediate Cup game.

Only some basic errors kept them from victory. Clawing their way back from an awful start, when they fell 14 points down in the first 10 minutes of the game, they produced some fast, free-flowing rugby to overtake the visitors.

Kings also had to contend with the loss of the influential Toby Baldry at scrum half. Joe Banfield stepped in from centre and was replaced by debutant Fergus Raymond, who put in a performance of real promise.

The game started with both sides looking for an early breakthrough. It came from Paignton as they broke through King’s defence for a converted try.

Their second try came after a fine break by Stu Winzer was wasted. Turning the ball over, Paignton went deep into Kings territory and, in trying to clear their line, Kings kicked straight into the arms of a grateful full back who scythed through to set up the second try under the posts.

Paignton looked as if they were going to totally dominate the game. Kings responded magnificently; they started to play with pace and Paignton struggled to contain them.

A fast move saw Stan Gerrard coming off his wing creating the extra man to put Max Goodwin over in the corner. A controversial decision by the referee, who awarded Kings a penalty restart when it should have been a penalty try, as Goodwin was taken out high in the act of scoring his try.

Keeping up the pressure, Kings were soon back on the score sheet with an Ollie Simons unconverted try. Not finished, back they came again when Dan Jarvis, who had a great all-round game, made serious yards to pass onto Gerrard to score. Newman converting.

Kings staged some magnificent defence as Paignton tried desperately to gain control again but to no avail, leaving Kings to go into halftime leading 17-14.

Kings started the second half poorly. Missed lineouts and poor kicking played into the experienced Paignton side who were trying to slow the game down.

It was from a missed penalty to touch that they scored the first points of the half, as they gathered from the kick and ran through to score.

Paignton were reduced to fourteen after another high tackle, but it didn’t stop them from adding through their influential number eight who outstripped the Kings defence to take them further ahead. Kings tried to respond but in doing so lost the ball.

The visitors gathered and ran all the way through to add a further seven points. Kings, now with a mountain to climb, tried as best they could to wrestle the match back. Max Goodwin diving over in the corner to reduce the deficit and Scott Lowry bustling through to score the game’s final points, leaving the final score 27-35.

An entertaining game with no less than ten tries, how Kings must have wished their scores were closer to the posts. A different outcome perhaps!