IVYBRIDGE sprang the shock of the day in South West One when they defeated leaders Barnstaple 43-40 on the all-weather surface at Cross-in-Hand.

The form book hinted at another defeat for Ivybridge, who have been bouncing around in the bottom two or three for most of the season so far. When the sides met first time around, Barnstaple administered an 80-15 hiding on the Bridge.

This was the second time around and it was a totally different story though. There was never more than 10 points between the sides – and once the Bridge got ahead for the final time, they closed out the game.

Defeat cost Barnstaple pole position as second-placed Brixham moved past them on the strength of their win over Exmouth.

Although Ivybridge remain in the bottom two, this result flashed a message to the rest of the division that they are neither down nor out. New leaders Brixham, whose win over Exmouth took them ahead of Barnstaple, will have taken note ahead of this Saturday’s tussle at Astley Park.

Neil Thomson, the rugby manager at Ivybridge, said the mood in the dressing room was positive before the game and the players took that out on to the pitch.

“We have been improving for a while and you could feel in the dressing room beforehand something had changed,” said Thomson.

“Although we were not expecting too much from the game after what happened up there, there was a confidence in the team.

“The way we won it was something that pleased the coaches the most. We scored seven tries, mostly from running with the ball and cutting great angles. It wasn’t just catch-it-at-a-line-out-and-drive stuff.

“When we got into Barnstaple’s red zone we took our chances.

“Our discipline was pretty good too. I made it 17, maybe 18 given away by Barnstaple and only three by us. They had two yellow cards in the second half, which won’t have helped them.”

Jack Skinner’s third-minute opening try for Ivybridge following a protracted drive from a line-out got the scoreboard blinking.

Good offloading produced a try for Giles Clarke then another for Henry Trudgill. Archie Mitchell, just back from a holiday in Australia, finished off a phased move for the bonus-point try before half time.

Cameron Grizzle-Johnson completed a first-half try hat-trick for Barnstaple. A Ryan Lee try and three conversions by Tyler Gordon-Oke put Barum 26-24 up at the switch.

Harry Lakeman and Trudgill added tries, both converted by Ben Fallows, that put the Bridge 38-26 in front with 18 minutes to go. It was not over yet though.

Tries by Brandon Moore and Bertie Stretch put Barnstaple 40-38 up going into the last 10 minutes.

With Barnstaple down to 14 men after a card for lock Matt Gohl, Ivybridge regained the lead thanks to a try on the move for Lakeman. All that remained was to play keep-ball for the eight or nine minutes left on referee Drew Meakin’s watch.

Visiting leaders Brixham next makes for a difficult conclusion to January but a home game against fellow strugglers Chew Valley, the only team currently below Ivybridge in the standings, presents a golden opportunity for a fourth win of the season as they battle for survival.