You would have to cast your mind back quite a few decades to recall the All Whites inflicting this sort of defeat on their neighbours and great rivals, Torquay Athletic.

It should have been more, but several chances squandered by the home side on Saturday stopped this becoming a rout similar to that suffered by the Tics at home to Taunton a few weeks ago.

However, with 30 minutes played, Torquay were staggeringly only three points adrift at 20-17.

The home side were their own worst enemy during the first half, handing Torquay a try and several penalties on a plate.

Tics took the lead having hardly touched the ball at all during the first seven minutes of play.

Viskoper, caught on the back foot, managed to recycle the ball in his own 22. Scrum half Cane, totally out of character, failed to find Birkett from the ensuing ruck, the ball bobbled loose and a grateful Russ Morris flopped on to it to give the Tics the lead; Jackson failed with the conversion.

All Whites stormed back up field and before long had won a line-out close to the Torquay line. Quick ball off the top found Cane, who fed Birkett. He delivered a delightful pass to inside centre Nick Holt who shot through in under the posts to score, Viskoper with the conversion to make the score 7-5 to the home side with ten minutes played.

All Whites were 10-5 ahead courtesy of a Viskoper penalty within minutes, Tics penalised for killing the ball in front of the posts.

The All Whites added two more tries in quick succession through Jason Keenan, who burrowed over from a five-metre scrum, and then James Head, who enjoyed a huge game.

All Whites proceeded to allow Torquay back into the game with some sloppy play.

Torquay were living off scraps up to this point and found themselves edging ever nearer to the home side courtesy of silly infringements, which were punished by Matt Jackson who struck three penalties in the space of 20 minutes.

Viskoper chipped in with one for the home team, giving a score line of 20-14 to the All Whites at the break.

Within five minutes of the restart Torquay were only three points behind courtesy of a Jackson penalty. Torquay captain Ben Cole, easily the stand out player for the visitors, urged his team on but to no avail.

Full back Viskoper limped off, to be replaced by Mike Saxton, who proved to be Torquay's nemesis. Within minutes he had added two penalties and set up a storming try for captain Simon Mabin.

This effectively ended any hopes Torquay may have had of sneaking a win. With the All Whites settling down, they blew the visitors away in the final quarter, rounding off a highly satisfying win with a try by influential standoff Andy Birkett, on hand to finish off a move by Nigel Cane.

Fittingly, Saxton had the final word with a conversion from in front of the sticks.

With a 41-17 the final score, coach Burford was happy with the result. Torquay could have no complaints, since they rarely reached parity in any of the set pieces and were out-fought at the breakdown. But at least they have a Devon Cup semi-final to look forward to against Cullompton.

The All Whites, also into the semi-final thanks to their win over Exmouth last weekend, face a tough game against Barnstaple. Should they win that, they could end up facing Torquay for a fourth time this season, having won all three games thus far. You would have to fancy them again.

So All Whites march on, four games away from a treasured play-off place, which could mean promotion. All are holding their breath at Rackerhayes. With a potential banana skin trip away to St Mary's Old Boys tomorrow, the faithful will be praying that the All Whites can do the business again up in Bristol.

The club urge all supporters to make the trip and lend their support.

Team: N Hammond, S Mabin, J Tichius, M Templeman, P Warren, J Head, J Keenan, B Rowntree, N Cane, A Birkett, N Johns, A Lloyd, N Holt, A Moore, J Viskoper. Replacements: J Bourne (P Warren), P Dowrick (J Tichius), M Saxton (J Viskoper).