NEWTON Abbot RFC’s Devon Intermediate Shield final outing at Rackerhayes ended in defeat on Saturday, March 14.

Cullompton, who play a league above Newton, won by 47 points to 30 and in the words of losing head coach Steve Perry, “The better side won and played the better rugby.”

It was a truly back-and-forth affair with both sides enjoying the lead and spells of dominance at various times.

The visitors struck first courtesy of Luke Shergold’s converted try but Newton Abbot were able to respond fairly swiftly, firstly through a Jay Barnes penalty and then Reuben Brinkley showed great feet to beat the last man. Barnes’ successful conversion took his team 10-7 ahead.

Cully’s regular persistence paid dividends throughout the afternoon, hooker Will Venner driving over, followed by a second score from Shergold. Fullback and captain Josh Luxon slotted both kicks, the first hitting the post on its way over.

Perry’s side refused to go away at this stage and with Jake Monnington pulling the strings, the experienced fly-half’s perfect pass set to Jacob Forey down the left wing who, in turn, showed the strength and speed to get over.

They were pegged back once more by Cullompton’s fourth try before Newton had the last say in the first-half, Jed Griffin squirreling through and ticking the score over to 20-28 at the turnaround.

Substitutes were made by both coaches ahead of the second half, Perry sending on three pairs of fresh legs including those of lively winger Josh Southworth.

The All Whites looked destined to make a try-scoring start to the half as Brinkley scampered away from his man but with the line in sight, a handling error cost them a shot at seven crucial points.

Barnes then cut into the deficit with the boot after another high tackle only for a pair of tries at the other end to give Cullompton breathing room.

Missed tackles continued to blight Newton and certainly not for the first time this season either, a second score from substitute Luke Coombes putting the tie to bed at 23-47.

There was still time for more action though, Cully veteran James Shere heading to the bin after throwing a punch and Jed Griffin scoring under the posts to double his personal tally after good work from brother Paul.

The conversion brought the last points of the game and left the score at 30-47.

Perry admitted that his players were “Obviously a bit gutted to not get the result” but there were still positives to take from the game: “We played a lot of solid rugby and scored plenty of points ourselves which was very pleasing, especially against a team from the league above.”

Key league games await the All Whites as they look to stave off any relegation fears.

They travel to Truro on Saturday, March 21 and all three of their fixtures in April see them cross paths with the trio currently below them in a narrow division.

For Perry, the remainder of the campaign will be black-and-white one way or another: “It is all about availability from now on.

“If the lads are available then we’ll finish positively I feel and go forward enjoying each other’s company, if not, then it’s going to be a really tough period.”