The start of this game was delayed due to the referee sustaining an injury in the warm-up.To the rescue came Charlie Wakeham, who received the SOS midway through his team talk over at Astley Park, where he was set to referee Brixham Colts' fixture.Avonmouth arrived on the back of a home defeat to Chosen Hill, so were in no mood to roll over.Games between these two clubs are always feisty, and this one was no exception. The All Whites, missing a few key individuals from their starting line-up, found themselves behind within minutes of the start.The visitors rewound possession after a fumble from the kick-off, moved the ball wide, found an overlap and Harris scooted in for the score. Taylor converted and the All Whites were looking down a gun barrel.The hosts took their time getting into their stride, perhaps not surprising with changes in their line up.Neil Johns, deputising for Nigel Cane, at scrum half, was impish and gradually found his rhythm.The game always had an edge to it and one suspected it could kick off at some point. On the 20-minute mark, Johns took off, making good ground before off-loading to number eight Brett Stroud, who went got over for try which Mike Saxton converted.Saxton missed a penalty close to half-time, which would have given the All Whites a lead.Newton Abbot coach Phil Burford made a change to the front row at half-time, swapping youngster Dan Perryman for new signing from Albion Paul Creek.The All Whites got their act together in the second half, pinning the Bristolians in their own half for long periods. Frustratingly, though, the home side had a couple of tries disallowed, either for forward passes or other infringements.They did get their noses in front midway through the second half, courtesy of captain Simon Mabin, who popped up in the middle of a well-worked maul, driven over by the forwards. Saxton added the extras to make the score along to 14-7.The hosts were now camped on the Avonmouth line most of the time, hammering away, which led to a bit of a dust-up – the two hookers having a go at each other before most of the other players joined in!After the letting off of a bit of steam, things calmed down and the All Whites played out time, chalking up a vital win in their quest for the play-offs.'Sometimes you got to win ugly, and this was one of those days,' said a Newton spokesman.'Good sides can adapt to any scenario and the All Whites are a damn good side.'Burford declared himself happy to have got this game out the way, but knows there are still tough games to come, starting tomorrow when his side tackle Brixham at Astley Park.

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