Torquay XV 21-0 Old Grammarians - The Chris Penford Cup

Tics worry about Smith after Boxing Day injury
Monday, December 28, 2009, 09:18

TORQUAY Athletic are counting the cost of their win over the Old Grammarians on Boxing Day after losing prop Steve Smith with a cut face.
The game was already won and lost when, with five minutes to go, Smith and Old Grammarian Matt Churchward clashed heads at a breakdown........

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Report courtesy of the Herald Express


Churchward was left with a split nose while Smith suffered deep cut between his nose and lip. Smith was stitched up in hospital after the game, but is going to struggle to play in the re-arranged South West Two game against Yatton this Saturday.

As Yatton are down at the wrong end of the table with Torquay, the last thing the Tics want is to lose one of their few front-row forwards.
Torquay were given a reminder what they are missing by two guest players as they cruised to a relatively comfortable victory.
Hartpury College student Matt Allanson, who left the club two months ago to join the college side, raced in for two tries.
Full-back Matt Jackson, now with Paignton but with a long Torquay pedigree, also showed up well.
Torquay always had an edge in the scrums, but the rest of battles for possession were even.
Where the Old Boys had problems was in the backs, where they could not match the Tics for pace.
Half time was only 10 minutes away when Torquay broke the deadlock with a try from Allanson, who covered 70 metres before crossing wide on the right. James Wood slotted the conversion.
Torquay extended the lead 10 minutes into the second half with another long-range try, this time scored by Wood. The Tics ran a penalty and with Wood finishing the 50-metre move by breaking the last tackle to score.
With the hour mark coming up Torquay got Allanson running again by flipping scrum ball out to him and there was no way the Old Boys' defence were going to catch him. Luke Bettesworth potted the final conversion.
The Old Grammarians had their chances, although they were few and far between. Russ Morris and Tom Channon both went close in the first half and Tom Eeles was there or thereabouts in the second.