PLYMOUTH TITANS 42-22 DEVON SHARKS

Plymouth Titans completed the regular season fixtures with a 42-22 win on Saturday evening but the Devon Sharks gave them and the Brickfields crowd a scare, leading for an hour before a strong finish by the home side.

Taking the game to Brickfields must be deemed a success, though it was a bit surreal with a wedding reception as a backdrop and the game played out to the strains of ABBA and Robbie Williams from the pitchside marquee.

Some of the crowd were still settling into their seats as Sharks’ Jimmy Hill broke through a weak tackle to score under the crossbar and give England Lionheart Matt Jackson a simple kick to open up a six point lead.

The Titans fought back and Lee Coulton replied five minutes later as he swooped on a fumbled catch from a crossfield kick by Matt Anstis to wriggle over next to the right hand corner flag.

On ten minutes, Dan Taylor extended the Sharks lead to 12-4 and the Titans were looking worried as the vocal Sharks support began to be heard.

But the tide began to turn and two tries in five minutes from Kyle Browne, following up a powerful drive by Mark Molyneux, followed by hooker Billy Stockwell jinking over from dummy half to give Matt Anstis the chance to give the Titans a 14-12 lead which he took with a booming kick from near the touchline.

The game was stop start as referee Ian Allison sought to keep control as the tackles got harder and sometimes higher with numerous penalties breaking up the flow of the game. The Titans looked to be heading into the break in front but a crisp passing move from right to left saw Dan Williams race in at the left flag to give the Sharks a two point advantage at drinks.

Matt Anstis levelled the scores with a penalty, awarded for delaying the play the ball but the Sharks responded after referee Allinson controversially restarted the tackle count and then apparently missed a blatant obstruction to allow Jackson to put in a high cross field kick which was fumbled and Ed Cribb dived on the loose ball.

That was the last of the scoring for the visitors as, after a period of sustained pressure Anstis raced through a gap in the Sharks defence to dot the ball down between the posts and give himself an easy conversion attempt which levelled the scores at 22 all.

Another Anstis penalty from forty metres put Titans in front again and as the Sharks tired the greens asserted their authority when Gavin Boak crashed over from five out to make it 30-22.

Two almost identical tries from Dave Shepherd sealed the win for Plymouth, bouncing off attempted tacklers to score under the posts on both occasions, though on the second attempt he suffered a suspected broken rib and needed attention behind the goal line before Anstis completed the scoring with his seventh goal of the evening.

The Brickfields crowd, basking in the late evening sunshine, seemed to enjoy the experiment of Rugby League at the home of Plymouth Albion Rugby Union and, although there are many issues to be considered, it seems likely that the experiment will be repeated next season – possibly on a more regular basis.

Plymouth Titans: Dave Hall, Ian McCormack, Kyle Browne, Richie Hewitt, Lee Coulton, Matt Anstis, James Hannaford, Jamie Miles, Billy Stockwell, Mark Molyneux, Paul Cioffi, Gareth Williams, Martin Browne, Gavin Boak, Dave Shepherd, Adam Wilkinson, Martin Cooper, Eric Sprangle Jnr, Aaron Hart.

Tries: Shepherd (2), Coulton, Kyle Browne, Anstis, Boak. Stockwell       Goals: Anstis (7)

Devon Sharks: Matt Jackson, Phil Maddick, Jon Woodford, Russell Morris, Gavyn Webber, Simon Dorey, Dan Taylor, John Lansin, Dan Williams, Paul Cartwright, Joe Briggs, Matt Allanson, Jimmy Hill, Tony McCarthy, George Mills, Ed Cribb, Richard Reid, Brad Clarke, Matt Lyle.

Tries: Taylor, Williams, Hill, Cribb    Goals: Jackson (3)