TEIGNMOUTH RFC are living dangerously at the wrong end of the South West Two table after suffering a 39-17 defeat in the basement battle at Cullompton.

It was Cullompton’s first win in seven starts since they defeated bottom side Wellington 43-22 back in early October.

Cullompton remain in the bottom two – they have to find 11 points from somewhere to get past Teignmouth and out of the relegation slots – but a defeat against Ivybridge this Saturday will ramp-up the pressure on the Teigns.

The first half was even-steven with nothing between the sides until the 35th minute when Cullompton opened-up a 10-5 lead.

Cullompton got the bit between their teeth in the second half and outscored Teignmouth by four tries to two.

George Franklin, the Teignmouth captain, said: “We're really disappointed with our performance.

“The first half was pretty even and we were fairly happy at half time.

“Credit to Cully, they took full advantage when we had a player in the bin and scored two tries.”

Reflecting on where it went wrong, Franklin said: “Ultimately, we underperformed in most areas.

“Throughout the game we allowed Cullompton to get over the gain line far too easily and didn't execute our game plan in attack.

“It's vital now that we bounce back with a big performance against Ivybridge.”

Harvey Ridgeway, Alex Ford and Ryan Knapman were the Teignmouth try scorers. Jack Mayne added a conversion.

Cullompton’s try scorers were Sevi Hurrell (2), Zac May, Sam Gibbs (2) and skipper Josh Luxon.

As mentioned there by Franklin, Teignmouth RFC will face Ivybridge next, welcoming them to Bitton Park for the final game before the winter break, on Saturday, December 20.

Ivybridge, who are fifth in the standings, beat North Petherton 34-17 at home on the weekend.