A late rally wasn't enough to prevent Oxford Harlequins losing 14-22 to Newton Abbot on their home patch on Saturday.
After a cagey first 10 minutes the visitors had the first real chance of the game but knocked on with the try line at their mercy, and then missed with a penalty. A second penalty on 17 minutes put Abbot 3-0 up, but more worrying for the hosts was their dominance at the breakdown.
On 29 minutes Quins were turned over inside their own half and Abbot spun the ball wide to score an unconverted try in the corner. Quins were struggling in the lineout and in first half injury time they lost their own throw and Abbot attacked through the middle to score under the posts and extend their lead to 15-0.
There was still time for second row Will Clayton to get sin binned for tackling someone without the ball as Oxford went in at the break with a mountain to climb. And things got worse on 52 minutes when Newton Abbot collected a loose ball and broke down the right flank to score their third try of the afternoon, which was converted to make the score 22-0.
Quins immediately hit back, centre Anthony Cope breaking a tackle and flinging a low pass to winger Harry Burns who stepped inside the cover to score, with Joey Todd adding the extras. On the hour mark Oxford got their second score, winger Martin Nutt being driven over in the corner after intense pressure on the Abbot try line, which Todd again converted from out wide.
Quins went looking for a bonus point and flanker Seoni Viamounga did force his way over the line only for the referee to judge the ball had been held up in the tackle. That was as close as Quins came as Newton Abbot held on for victory.
