Lee McDowell, a determined and talented hooker and flanker, graduate of Roger Arthur’s early ’90s colts, was the captain for the 2003-03 season. Phil Morgan, recovered from the previous season’s nasty injury, and now often to be found in the boiler house rather than the threequarters, deputised when McDowell was unavailable. Andy Critchley was Club Captain.
There was a feeling of optimism at the start of the season after the club secured a £5k ‘Awards For All’ Grant. This was use to buy a new scrum machine, purpose-built by local firm APS Metalwork. The money would also go towards clubhouse improvements. There was also a new club sponsor, in the shape of Town & Country Lettings (the start of a long relationship with the club) whose name adorned a brand new set of 1st XV shirts.
The club entered the Angus Colville Tavistock Tens on August Bank Holiday weekend which was a good runabout for some. Prior to that the cobwebs were blown out with a pre-season friendly with Plymouth Police, perhaps the last time this traditional fixture was played. There was further encouragement when The Chiefs beat a strong Saltash II side 19-5 aided by two tries from Phil Hall. The match counted towards the inaugural Plymouth Combination Merit Table, a competition organised by The Ashes’ President Bill Ryan in an effort to stem the tide of cancelled friendly fixtures.
The good form continued into the opening competitive matches with a 52-35 win over Plym Vic in the Powergen Vase followed by a hard-fought 21-12 home league victory over Buckfastleigh. A further 18-3 win over St Columba Torpoint in October, took Argaum joint top, however this was to be short-lived. The match had been abandoned after 62 minutes due to an injury to the referee; Torpoint appealed and the match, to everyone’s surprise and despite protestation from the club, was ordered to be replayed. To add insult to injury, a much stronger Torpoint side visited in November and ran out comfortable winners. After OPOs racked up a big score in the second round of The Powergen Vase, the season started to lose momentum.
The Chiefs ultimately finished 5th in the 6 team Devon 3 which now included Civil Service, although it was a resurgent Salcombe who claimed the title. The double was completed over Buckfastleigh, but the only other league win came against Plym Vic away, the return surprisingly lost at home in March. Inconsistency in selection was a big factor for a side who had plenty of talent. This was illustrated when Darren Wills, playing on the left wing and enjoying quick ball, ran in 4 tries for Plymouth Combination against Plymouth Command at the Rectory as they cruised to a 49-16 win. Wills was the club’s top scorer with 103 points (8 tries, 7 penalties and 21 conversions).
The Tigers, with Toby Liberson as skipper, had some difficult afternoons with one or two mis-matched fixtures early in the season. There was a decent win over Ivybridge III (34-7) with Liberson himself touching down. Ellis Cup fortunes were terminated by OPO II but there ware some closer matches in the latter half of the season. A sign of the changing times was that none of the 6 scheduled Sunday fixtures came to pass, due to availability on both sides.
The annual Easter Tour was to Worcester and featured old boy Chris Henderson and his friends from Arbroath, a regular fixture on tours for many years following.
After an absence of a few seasons, the club entered a rather scratch side into the Combination Sevens at the Rectory, featuring 3 props! Despite being beaten by eventual winners Devonport Services the side performed well and won a few friends.
There was sad news via the website message forum when it was learned that Kev Wilton, who played for the club in the late 1970s and 80s, had died of a heart attack in Sweden.
Momentum was building towards finally getting a junior section off the ground with club members taking advantage of the growing number of coaching courses available in the region. At the AGM Louise Critchley stood down from Bar Chairwoman to be replaced by Alan Eskriett, in the male equivalent of the role at least. Paul Venkort became Chairman taking over from Simon Robertson. The club also learned that the following season Devon 2 and 3 would merge.
An excellent Dinner and Dance was held at The Sergeant’s Mess, Stonehouse Barracks at which the following awards were made:
Captain’s Trophy: Paul Tottman
Player’s Player: Phil Morgan
Effort Award: Mike Louise
Clubman: Phil Morgan
Jenny Daniels Award: Toby Liberson
Most Improved Player: Jason Burdett
2nd XV Player of The Year: Dave Burt
Teddy Thrower: Darren Wills
