Darts dream of playing at Twickenham in the finals of the Papa Johns Counties 3 Championship cup came crashing down to earth last Saturday when the Club entertained Old Elthamians RFC from the Kent/ London borders in the semi finals.
Up until 2020, the visitors were a National 1 club side.
They brought with them a very strong , skilful and youthful side who have all been together as a team through the junior and colts sections of their club.

This is probably the strongest sides that Dartmouth has ever played.

With Dartmouth having 30 consecutive wins under their belt this season and the visitors being undefeated in 18 games, it was a shame that there could only be one winnner.

The game was watched by an estimated record crowd of 500 supporters all shouting for the home side, which gave Norton Field a fantastic atmosphere .

Even after a long train journey, the visitors arrived fresh and appeared to have the answer to anything that Darts threw at them.

Elthamians game was controlled by their number 10 Jo Leigh who had a lot of tricks in his armoury from darting runs, chip kicks and a good pair of hands.

Possession was fairly even . Dartmouth supporters all season have been used to seeing their forwards breaking numerous tackles and off loading try scoring passes. However, the visitors had other ideas and a lot of breaks were snuffled out by their first class defence.
A series of the balls being knocked forward did not help the Dartmouth attacks.

Captain Karl Caunter & John Dingle made some bruising runs up field , but the visitors came right back and were unlucky not to have scored on 25 mins when the ball was held up on Dartmouth's try line.
Back came Darts with a blindside run by Lewis Sharam which was supported by John Dingle and the move resulted in a penalty for Darts due to a neck roll.
Sam Churchill gave Dartmouth a 3 point lead.

Back came Elthamians with another attack & Darts leaked another penalty from 5 mtrs out The visitors full back Prince Ncube took a quick tap and dived in between the posts to score. Jo Leigh conversion 7-3.
From the kick off, Darts won the ball and it was worked via centre Matt Ford and then through the hands of Jack Gordon and Myles Churchill, before being knocked on in the tackle.
A kick up field by Elthamians saw Darts full back Richard Lobb take a high ball and call for a mark, which relieved the pressure.
The last minute of the half saw John Dingle and Jack Gordon attempting to run the ball at the visitors but Darts just couldn't break through the defence.
Half time Dartmouth RFC 3 points. Old Elthamians RFC 7 points.

In the 2nd half Karl Caunter led by example and tried to rally his troops with battering runs through the middle of the field.
On 45 mins the visitors broke free from their own line and gained 60 mtrs .

Billy Colthart took over the number 10 position for Darts from Sam Churchill, whilst Jaime Kearney came off the bench and slotted in at Scrum half.

The visitors full back continued to join in their back line which at times gave them the advantage of an overlap.
From a line out in the Dartmouth Corner, Elthamians won the ball and back rower George Robinson crashed over for a try. Conversion Jo Leigh. 14-3.

The visitors were keeping Darts in their own half with pin point kicking into the home sides 22mtrs box.
Billy Colthart tried to get his backs moving by making a sniping run up field but again the ball was knocked on.
Most of the game was now being played in the Darts half and pressure resulted in another penalty for Elthamians and Jo Leigh took the 3 points. 17-3.

30 minutes into the 2nd half and Darts found their rhythm in the loose and started to put pressure on the visitors line. Short battering runs towards the line by Phil Rawle,Tom Clark, Ryan Burrows & Myles Churchill eventually led to prop Kyle McGhee battle over for a corner try. 17-8

Darts poor penalty count continued and Jo Leigh added a further 3 points for the visitors. 20-8.

In the last 10 minutes of the game the visitors stepped up a gear and were prepared to run the ball from all over the field. This pressure saw wing Sam Scott over over for a try after an overlap. Conversion Jo Leigh 27-8.
The last minute of the game saw the visitors Jo Leigh make a break across field before straightening his run. He found scrum half Will Davis on his shoulder who crossed for a try under the posts.
Final Score Dartmouth RFC 8 points Old Elthamians RFC 34 points.

All the Dartmouth Team played their hearts out in this game, but they were up against a far better side. We wish Old Elthamians RFC our best wishes for the final at Twickenham.
But what a record breaking season for Dartmouth undefeated in 30 games and promotion for the club next season.

Dartmouth's Man of the match was prop Kyle McGhee.
Old Elthamians man of the match, number 10 Jo Leigh.

Dartmouth Team Manager Andrew Tomkinson said after the game,
" Thank you Dartmouth Town for your amazing and loyal support this season, with a record crowd watching today's game. The lads were really up for today, with 40 players attending training on Thursday night. Not one player let the side down. With the score being 7-3 half time there was everything to play for. But hats off to Old Elthamians RFC who had made a 4.5hr journey to Dartmouth they stepped up a gear in the 2nd half and we just couldn't match them.we wish them all the best in next week's final at Twickenham.
Dartmouth have had a fantastic record breaking season with a run of 30 consecutive wins. The squad will all be available next season and we look forward to promotion and playing a higher standard of rugby in The Counties 2 Tribute Devon League."

Dartmouth's squad who played against Old Elthamians RFC in the semi finals of the Papa Johns Counties 3 Championship Cup.
Ryan Burrows Tom Clark ( VC) Kyle McGhee. Aaran Watkins. Myles Churchill.
Karl Caunter ( Capt) Lewis Sharam. John Dingle. Billy Colthart. Sam Churchill.(VC) Piers Benjamin. Jake Bridgwood. Luke Bridgwood. Jack Gordon.
Richard Lobb. Lian Hitchcock. Fred Bancroft. Phil Rawle. Matt Meacock
Brogan Taylor. Jaime Kearney. Matt Ford.

A big thank you goes of to D & I Cleaning services of Dartmouth for kindly sponsoring this match

It is always sad to lose a past player and our thoughts and condolences go out to the family of Rick Bonstow at this difficult time. These thoughts are from everyone at Dartmouth Rugby Football Club. RIP Rick.

Photographs courtesy of Freya Bradley .

Press release.

Dick Evans
Press Officer
Dartmouth Rugby Football Club.

Mob 07847 141 240.