What a journey Dartmouth Rugby Club have been on and are still on during the last 8 months.
They have gone from not being able to fulfill fixtures, due to lack of players, to being voted the best team in Devon & England at their level for the month of December .
Community spirit has pushed the club forward and last Sunday, they won the Papa Johns Community cup at Saracens RFC's ground in London, against a very strong Chess Valley RFC ( Hertfordshire) . Darts still find themselves in the final of the Devon RFU Junior Bowl .( Date tbc)

For those who watched the the final via live stream, you would have heard the professional rugby commentators say,
"Dartmouth are the stuff of fairy tales and the rugby clubs success should be turned into a book and film. They are all local lads and It is all down to the whole community . A fantastic result for the club, the town of Dartmouth and Devon rugby. "

The journey to the final has not been without controversy, as Darts narrowly lost away to Fareham Heathens in the semi finals ,only to be reinstated after an enquiry by the RFU , revealed that Heathens players registration had not been adhered to.
This made the club even more determined to win the final and they proved that they deserved and earned the right to be in this game.

At the Saracens ground Dartmouth were greeted by a few hundred Chess Valley supporters, who lived just 20 minutes away.
The Darts luxury team coach was full with a squad of 29 players and supporters.
However, another 50 loyal Riversiders supporters made the 500 mile round trip to North London on the day of the match, some leaving home at 5.45am to catch the 11am kick off. They do say that pubs in Dartmouth were packed with locals who also wanted to watch the game.
There is little doubt that the shouting & Screaming from the Darts travelling fans lifted the team on the field.

Dartmouth RFC 31 points. Chess Valley RFC 28 points.

Big match nerves got the better of Dartmouth in the first 20 minutes, with Valley fielding a young side who were prepared to run the ball from anywhere on the field. They also fielded a strong mobile number 8 who is the cousin of Anthony Joshua the former world heavy weight champion.
There were a lot of dropped passes, miss tackles and Darts were losing lineout ball.
An early Jack Gordon penalty gave Darts a 3 point lead, but on 24 minutes Dartmouth found themselves 10-3 down and had to defend their line . Only strong tackles by Xav Picot & Jack Gordon & line kicking of Sam Churchill broke down Valley attacks.
Captain Karl Caunter settled his side down and things started to improve for Dartmouth. The pack paved the way for Darts first try and they started to gain the upper hand. The front row of Ryan Burrows, Tom Clark & Kyle McGhee won a strike and the whole pack inch by inch pushed the valley pack and from a rolling maul the unstoppable number 4 Myles Churchill twisted and turned his way over the line for a try. 10-8.
Valley replied with a penalty. 13-8
Back came Valley with their runs from deep. On occasions, the Darts defence was too narrow, which allowed Valley space across the field to attack & on 33 minutes their hooker broke clear and a quick pass to his wing saw Valley cross in the corner 18-8.
Darts realised that they had the stronger pack and were winning the battles in the scrum. A kick into the Valley corner, saw Darts win a lineout and from 10 mtr out a rolling maul saw Kyle McGhee go over , but the ref deemed that he was held up and the try was disallowed.
Just before half time a lovely long kick up field by Jack Gordon found touch 10mtrs from valley's line. Ricky Seymour did his job in the 2nd Row and from a rolling maul valley were pushed back and flanker Tom Carter got the try.
18-13.
An early second half penalty by Jack Gordon made it 18-16 before Tom Carter got his second try of the match when he crashed over the line from another driving maul taking Dartmouth into the lead 18-21.
Valley were unlucky not to score a try near the posts when their back row man Joshua broke free and with the try line begging he was ankle tapped by Jack Gordon and the ball was knocked forward.
Darts were giving away unnessary penalties and had to be careful that they were not in range of their posts.
Valley then lost a their scrum half with a yellow card after he tipped tackled Dartmouth wing Luke Bridgwood.
Luke Chase playing his first game for Dartmouth for over a season was enjoying his game and controlling his backs making short runs and even clearing turn over balls.
Darts continued with their dominance in the pack and the rolling mauls were causing Valley all sorts of problems and it was Dec Hammond who peeled from the back of a maul and crashed over for a try Jack Gordon conversion.
Valley replied with a easy penalty in front of Darts posts.
It was Dartmouths turn to attack, Richard Lobb reverting to number 10 put in some high kicks up field. The kicks were normally followed up by Karl Caunter who met the Valley attacker with ferocious tackles in mid field.
Young wing Josh Squires almost scored wide out for Dartmouth when he booted on a high ball gathered the ball and set off down the touch line only to be bundled into touch in the corner.
John Dingle & Kyle McGhee both put a good shift in, breaking tackles and making ground for Dartmouth in the loose.
Darts were awarded a penalty for a Valley infringement in the scrum which was kicked by Jack Gordon.
31-21 to Dartmouth with 5 minutes to go.
Valley kept attacking across the field and only strong tackling by the whole team, stopped them scoring.
However in the last minute of game Valley pressure ,saw their back row Joshua score under the posts.
Final Score Dartmouth 31 points Chess Valley 28 points.

Reflecting on the game, it would perhaps , be fair to say that Valley had the better attacking back line. However, the Dartmouth forwards were immense in this game and Valley had no answer to their strength and power.
But this was still a Dartmouth team effort and this win will be remembered by the lads for years to come.

Dartmouth RFC's proud squad for the Papa Johns cup final.
Ryan Burrows. Tom Clark. Kyle McGhee. Myles Churchill. Phil Rawle. Ricky Seymour. Karl Caunter ( C) John Dingle. Luke Chase, Sam Churchill.
Xavier Picot. Jake Bridgwood ( VC) Jack Gordon. Luke Bridgwood.
Richard Lobb.
Jack Paddon. Luke Bonstow. Josh Squires. Tom Carter. Dec Hammond.
Matt Meacock. Tony De Burgh. Brogan Taylor. Dan Greeno. Oliver Thorpe. Fred Bancroft. Leo Willey. Lian Hitchcock.

Dartmouth Team Manager Andrew Tomkinson said after the game:-
" What a brilliant experience for everyone involved in the club. To go to Saracens ground and to be treated with the same amount of respect as if you were European champions is something this group of players will never forget.
All the staff at Saracens and all the organisers behind the event made us feel welcome. We could not have wished for a better day.
The game was managed to plan and it was a close battle. Chess Valley were a tough drilled and young side who battled right up to the final whistle.
Myles Churchill was an absolute giant on the field and could have easily had another couple of tries, had he not been held up on the line. Myles deserved the man of the match awarded by the commentary team. Richard Lobb probably had one if his best seasons at the club and today he showed his composure at both full back and number 10 after Sam Churchill went off injured.
Jack Gordon saved us today with his pace as he produced some amazing last ditch tackles, Captain Karl Caunter led the team out brilliantly as always and deserved to lift the shield at the end.
It has been an amazing turnaround for this rugby club in the last few months and the whole town of Dartmouth should be very proud of what this team have achieved .
The club would like to thank all our sponsors and all our travelling supporters who made the long journey to StoneX stadium to cheer the team on."

Club Chairman David Bradley added.
" very proud of the way the boys played. A great team effort behind the scenes by committee members, to get the team to Watford for an overnight stay at short notice. It was pretty stressful all round but everything fell into place.
We appreciate the support that the Club received from the community ."

Special mention must go to financial help from Club sponsors , who without their help the trip to the Papa Johns final in London may not have been possible.
Main Sponsors:- " Devon RFU. Mr Dave Spencer. The Market House Inn. The Dolphin Inn. Staggs Estate Agents. Astro. CB Churchill. Yard-Park."

Press release.

Dick Evans
Press Officer
Dartmouth Rugby Football Club

Mob 07847 141