NEWTON Abbot RFC left it very late yet again to make it two wins from two in the Counties One Western West division.

The All Whites lead for just a few minutes at the end of their opening day victory over Saltash, Callum Westaway scoring the decisive try, and two more former colts stepped up on Saturday, September 13 to make the difference this time around.

Director of Rugby Mike Saxton commented that his side’s ability to keep going and going “shows the lads have got the determination and a different belief this year.”

Torquay were the visitors at Rackerhayes, a Devon derby being reignited after the two sides spent many years apart.

It was the Tics who put on the early pressure and they had a try to show for it as well, Lewis Crocker displaying smart footwork to cross in the corner for a 0-5 advantage.

Newton swiftly responded though in what was a back-and-forth affair. A successful Jake Monnington penalty kick narrowed the deficit and then after one winger, Joe Webber, broke the line, the other winger Josh Southworth went over for an 8-5 lead.

With more ebbs and flows to come, the away side fired back ahead despite a smart tap-tackle from Newton full-back Toby Pascoe. Torquay were quick to continue and one pass was all that it needed, George Mills scoring against his former club to rub further salt into the wounds. Matt Penrice added the extras, a first completed conversion of the game.

8-12 was how it stood at the break and given the underwhelming performance from NARFC in the first 40 minutes, to still be well in the game was a good sign.

That being said, it got worse before it got better, Jonny Brown scoring off the back of yet another Torquay penalty and Penrice converting to make it 8-19.

There was plenty of needle in the game and perhaps none more so than when a Monnington conversion was charged down. Toby Cox broke through a hole well and evaded the final tackle right by the posts only for Torquay to bat away the resulting kick, their supporters showing their appreciation as vocally as possible.

At this stage in the afternoon, there were a few tired and limping bodies in the white of Newton but this was by no means their final hurrah.

Scrum-half Owen McLeod’s quick recycling was the catalyst for the next try of the game. He passed it on to Webber who once again played a part in a score for his fellow winger Southworth, the latter crashing over to the delight of the Rackerhayes faithful.

Substitute Jack Akery gave Torquay a bit of breathing room, returning the lead to six points with an unconverted try.

Newton kept going and going right until the final whistle though and they had the last laugh on their home patch.

As previously mentioned, it was two graduates from the colts that got the job done. Jed Griffin had the ball down over the white line, leaving Jacob Forey with a highly pressurized conversion attempt, from which he made no mistake.

Mere seconds remained afterwards and as the referee blew the whistle one last time, it was a first successful conversion of the game for NARFC that won it for them.

All Whites head coach Steve Perry labelled the opposition as a “really good side”, adding that they were “very, very physical, very big and looked really good going forward.”

His counterpoint was that “We showed a lot of grit and heart again to finish strong in the last five minutes. It’s a fantastic feeling and it’s good for the boys too, putting smiles on their faces after a tough year last year.”

Saxton echoed the sentiment, joking that this is “Two weeks in a row we’ve done it (won late) and I’m not sure my heart can take much more of it.”

On a more serious note, the former Newton player said: “I’m super proud of our lads and what they’re buying into.

“Some of the stats on the field are poor and we’ll work on that but being able to win ugly today really was fantastic.”

There were some lapses of judgement out there as well as numerous handling errors but at the end of the day, the victory is all that matters.

As the only side to have started the campaign with two wins, Newton lead the way whilst Torquay are bringing up the rear.

Next up for the All Whites is a Community Cup trip to Paignton on Saturday, September 20.