Possibly the worst performance in the four years since the Plymouth club entered the Rugby League Conference added to the almost inevitable 52-6 hammering of the Exeter Centurions by the Somerset Vikings means that the Titans drop out of the play off spots and face an uphill struggle to qualify for the end of season finals.

The Titans seemed lacklustre and, especially in the second half, the Eagles were a yard quicker in most things they did. A minute before the half time break it seemed that they would still be in the contest but Richard Cadywould’s two outrageous dummies and stroll under the posts turned a four point deficit to a ten point margin and with another touchdown through flimsy defence a minute after the restart, the Eagles were never in danger of losing their sixteen point lead.

James Holman opened the scoring for the hosts on nine minutes and they extended their lead when Declan Sexton dropped a speculative chip kick near his own line and Eagles skipper Dave McCarthy picked up the loose ball to dive over, Cadywould’s goal made it 12-0.

The Titans replied shortly afterwards, Kyle Browne receiving from a midfield scrum and weaving through the Eagles defence popping the ball out of the tackle to full back Carl Ranscombe who raced under the posts to give Matt Anstis an easy conversion, 12-6.

Aussie centre Phil Warby resented being on the receiving end of a head high tackle and was penalised for retaliation by referee Ian Allinson and from the reversed penalty award, the Eagles restarted play on the Titans twenty. Two tackles later, Holman bagged his second touchdown near the left touchline with what looked suspiciously like a double movement.

The injustice spurred the visitors into one of their better periods, with a succession of goal line tackles denying them before Anstis crashed over near the posts and converted his own score to reduce the Eagles lead to four points.

After the two Eagles tries a minute either side of the break, another highlight for the Titans came from Anstis’s short kick off, Kyle Browne caught it on the full and a sequence of quick passes and offloads spread the ball to both sides of the pitch until Brad Hart was finally tackled just short of the line. From a quick play the ball three passes later, Browne dived in at the corner to make it 30-16 to the Eagles.

The trainer was called onto the field after an hour as referee Allinson pulled up with a knee injury and after a five minute break and plenty of strapping the game continued with the official clearly struggling to keep up with play the Eagles scored again, Cadywould kicking the difficult goal from wide out.

The Titans last hurrah came with a sixty metre sprint down the right touchline by Tom West who outpaced the chasing defence to dot the ball down next to the corner post giving Anstis a difficult attempt at goal which he kicked magnificently, still rising as it crossed the bar.

Unfortunately, instead of sparking a late revival, the opposite happened and tired defence saw the Eagles score straight from a scrum, Garry Hooper brushing off five or six flimsy attempts at a tackle to walk under the crossbar to score and Jack Downie completed the Titans miserable day with the last score of the day two minutes from time.

Quite what went wrong with the Titans is hard to pinpoint. Hooker/halfback Matt Tichias was away in Huddersfield on England duty but on paper they were a match for the Exmouth side. Coach Rob Stockwell needs to raise his team for the visit to Flowerpots next week when a defeat at the hands of Exeter is unthinkable if they are to retain their South West title. With a visit to Somerset and two home games against the Devon Sharks left, three wins out of four are a must to reach the finals.

EAST DEVON EAGLES: Lawrence Giles, James Holman, Jack Downie, Mark Wathes, Oliver Turton, Sean Lovett, Richard Cadywould, Andy Melbourne, Dave McCarthy, Jack Westlake, Michael Wilson, Richard Sharp, Tony Emmins, Dean Chisling, Paul Flower, Jonny Boltrukiewicz, Brad Perkins, Darren Bowden, Garry Hooper, Mark Briggs

Tries; Holman (2), Hooper (2), Cadywould (2), McCarthy, Turton, Downie Goals: Cadywould (6)

PLYMOUTH TITANS: Carl Ranscombe, Tom West, Kyle Browne, Phil Warby, Ben Kirby, Matt Ansis, James Hammond, Jack Martin, Billy Stockwell, Adam Wilkinson, Brad hart, Gareth Williams, Martin Browne, Declan Sexton, Mick Plummer, Ian McCormack, Phil Ingleson, Dave Hall.

Tries: Ranscombe, West, Anstis, Kyle Browne. Goals: Anstis (3)

Half Time: 22-12

Referee: Ian Allinson