Devon RFU Junior Cup

The Devon Junior Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1888–89 season when it was won by Paignton. During the pre-war years the Devon Junior Cup was open to lower ranked teams in the county, along with the reserve sides of the larger clubs such as Exeter and Devonport Albion. Like the senior cup competition, the junior cup has periods of inactivity over its history due to World Wars, and was cancelled towards the end of the 1950s only to return in the 1986–87 season when it was won by Exeter Saracens. The Havill Plate was introduced in the 1970s for teams knocked out of the first round of the Devon Senior Cup but later included clubs knocked out of the early stages of the Junior Cup – it was discontinued after the 1998–99 season.

Devon Junior Cup

Sport	Rugby Union
Instituted	1889; 136 years ago (1889)
Number of teams	15
Country	England
Holders	North Tawton (8th title) (2018–19)
Most titles	Honiton, North Tawton (8 titles)
Website	Devon RFU

The Junior Cup is the third cup competition in the county behind the Senior Cup and Intermediate Cup, and is open to club sides based in Devon that play in tier 9 (Devon League 1) of the English rugby union league system, as well as the Devon Merit Tables (outside of the league system). The current format is a knock-out cup with a first round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, which is played at the home ground of one of the finalists. Also running alongside is a Plate competition for clubs knocked out of the first round of the Devon Junior Cup.^[1] There was also a Vase competition but this has not been contested since 2017.

Devon Junior Cup winners

Devon Junior Cup Finals
Season	Winner	Score	Runners–up	Venue
1888-89	Paignton Scarlet Runners
1889-90	Melville
1890-91	Totnes
1891-92	Dartmouth Athletic
1892-93	Devonport Albion 'B'
1893-94	Aller Vale
1894–95	Sidmouth	3 goals, 2 tries – 0	Ilfracombe	[2]
1895-96	Tiverton Heathcoat
1896-97	Torquay Juniors
1897-98	Ilfracombe
1898-99	Dartmouth Athletic
1899-1900	Paignton
1900-01	Argyle Athletic
1901-02	Teignmouth / Friernhay[a 1]	0-0	N/A
1902-03[4]	Friernhay	4-3	Teignmouth	Newton Abbot
1903-04[5]	Dartmouth Athletic		Exeter Reserves	Newton Abbot
1904-05[6]	Brixham	24-0	Ilfracombe
1905-06[7]	Exeter Reserves	6-3[a 2]	St. Chads
1906-07	St. Chads
1907-08	Devonport Ramblers
1908-09[6]	Brixham	12-0	Seaton	Newton Abbot
1909-10	Kingsteignton
1910-11	Kingsteignton
1911-12	Teignmouth
1912-13	Seaton
1913-14	North Tawton
1914-19	No competition due to World War I
1919-20	Exmouth Reserves
1920-21	Newton Abbot Reserves
1921-22	Exmouth Reserves
1922-23	Kingsteignton
1923-24	Crediton
1924-25	Newton Abbot Reserves
1925-26[8]	Exmouth Reserves		Crediton
1926-27[8]	Paignton Reserves	9-3	Honiton
1927-28[8]	Honiton	21-7	Brixham Reserves
1928-29[8]	Honiton	9-3	Kingsteignton	County Ground, Exeter
1929-30[8]	Honiton	9-5	Brixham Reserves
1930-31	Kingsteignton
1931-32	North Tawton
1932-33	Bideford
1933-34	Brixham Reserves
1934-35	Bideford
1935-36	Withycombe
1936-37	No competition
1937-38	Exmouth Reserves
1938-39	Buckfastleigh
1939-46	No competition
1946-47	Crediton
1947-48	North Tawton
1948-49	North Tawton
1949-50	North Tawton / Totnes
1950-51	North Tawton / Totnes
1951-52	Totnes
1952-53	Cullompton
1953-54	Buckfastleigh
1954-55	Buckfastleigh
1955-56	Buckfastleigh
1956-57	North Tawton
1957-86	No competition
1986-87	Exeter Saracens
1987-88	Ivybridge
1988-89	Ivybridge
1989-90	Cullompton
1990-91	Ivybridge
1991-92	Paignton
1992-93	Honiton
1993-94	Honiton
1994-95	Ivybridge
1995-96	Kingsbridge
1996-97[9]	Kingsbridge	48-0	Newton Abbot	Rackerhayes, Kingsteignton
1997-98	Exmouth
1998-99	Withycombe
1999-2000	Exmouth
2000-01	Kingsbridge
2001-02	Tavistock
2002-03	Honiton
2003-04	Honiton
2004-05[10]	Honiton	29-3	South Molton
2005-06[11]	Okehampton	8-3	Cullompton
2006-07[12]	Cullompton		Teignmouth
2007-08[12]	Bideford	27-3	Teignmouth	King George's Field, Bideford
2008-09[13]	Exeter Saracens	34-15	Torrington	Exhibition Fields, Exeter
2009-10[14]	Wessex	19-3	Totnes	Borough Park, Totnes
2010-11[15]	Plymouth Barbarians	21-10	Topsham	Keyham Park, Plymouth
2011-12[16]	Wessex	18-11	Newcross	Five Lanes, Kingsteignton
2012-13[17]	South Molton	20-8	Torrington	Unicorn Park, South Molton
2013-14[18]	Old Technicians	13-8	South Molton	Weston Mill, Plymouth
2014-15[19]	Totnes	20-17	North Tawton	Tawmeadow, North Tawton
2015-16[20]	Torrington	24-15	North Tawton	Donnacroft, Torrington
2016-17[21]	Dartmouth	29-11	Totnes	Tawmeadow, North Tawton
2017-18[22]	South Molton	34-13	Topsham	Unicorn Park, South Molton
2018-19[23]	North Tawton	25-10	Exeter Athletic	Taw Meadows, North Tawton

^[24][25]

Devon Junior Plate winners

Devon Junior Plate Finals
Season	Winner	Score	Runners–up	Venue
2009-10[26]	North Tawton	41-0	Plympton Victoria	Taw Meadows, North Tawton
2010-11[15]	Wessex	29-19	Dartmouth	Dartmouth Leisure Centre, Dartmouth
2011-12[27]	Plymouth Argaum[a 3]	N/A	Old Plymothian & Mannamedian	N/A
2012-13[28]	Buckfastleigh Ramblers	48-10	Devonport HSOB	Stonehouse Creek, Plymouth
2013-14	Unknown[a 4]		Unknown	Ernesettle Lane, Plymouth
2014-15	Plymouth Argaum[30]	N/A[a 5]	Unknown	N/A
2015-16	Tamar Saracens[a 6]	N/A	South Molton	N/A
2016-17[21]	North Tawton	13-10	Torington	Tawmeadow, North Tawton
2017-18[22]	New Cross	28-10	Devonport HSOB	Unicorn Park, South Molton
2018-19[34]	Ilfracombe	20-3	Salcombe	Brimlands, Ilfracombe

^[24]

Devon Junior Vase winners

Devon Junior Vase Finals
Season	Winner	Score	Runners–up	Venue
2009-10[35]	Plymouth Barbarians	26-18	Dartmouth	Keyham Park, Plymouth
2010-11[36]	Plymstock Albion Oaks	27-12	Old Plymothian & Mannamedian	King George V Playing Fields, Plymouth
2011-12[37]	North Tawton	24-9	Salcombe	Unicorn Park, North Tawton
2012-13[38]	Old Technicians	20-12	Tamar Saracens	Weston Mill, Plymouth
2013-14[39][40]	Topsham	18-11	Plymouth Argaum	Bickleigh Down, Plymouth
2014-15[41]	New Cross	37-14	Plymstock Albion Oaks	Horsham Playing Fields, Plymouth
2015-16[42]	New Cross	55-0	Devonport HSOB	Five Lanes, Kingsteignton[43]
2016-17[21]	Exeter Saracens	12-10	Old Technicians	Tawmeadow, North Tawton

^[24]

Number of wins

Cup Honiton (8) North Tawton (8)[a 7] Exmouth (6)[a 8] Totnes (5)[a 9] Buckfastleigh (4) Ivybridge (4) Kingsteignton (4) Paignton (4)[a 10] Bideford (3) Brixham (3)[a 11] Cullompton (3) Dartmouth Athletic (3) Kingsbridge (3) Crediton (2) Exeter Saracens (2) Friernhay (2)[a 12] Newton Abbot Reserves (2) South Molton (2) Teignmouth (2)[a 13] Wessex (2) Withycombe (2) Aller Vale (1) Argyle Athletic (1) Devonport Albion 'B' (1)[a 14] Dartmouth (1) Devonport Ramblers (1) Exeter Reserves (1)[a 15] Ilfracombe (1) Melville (1) Okehampton (1) Old Technicians (1) Plymouth Barbarians (1) Seaton (1) Sidmouth (1) St. Chads (1) Tavistock (1) Tiverton Heathcoat (1) Torquay Athletic Juniors (1) Torrington (1)

Plate North Tawton (2) Plymouth Argaum (2) Buckfastleigh Ramblers (1) Ilfracombe (1) New Cross (1) Tamar Saracens (1) Wessex (1)

Vase New Cross (2) North Tawton (1) Exeter Saracens (1) Old Technicians (1) Plymouth Barbarians (1) Plymstock Albion Oaks (1) Topsham (1)

Notes

1. The 1902 final between Teignmouth and Friernhay was shared after 3 consecutive 0-0 draws.^[3]
2. The 1906 final between Exeter Reserves and St. Chad's went into extra time.^[7]
3. Plate was awarded to Plymouth Argaum as OPM were unable to raise a side for the final.^[27]
4. Final was played between Tamar Saracens and Dartmouth at Ernesettle Road but no result of match can be found.^[29]
5. The 2014-15 Plate competition was set up as a round-robin league competition between the 4 losing sides from the second round of the Devon Junior Cup with each side playing home and away.^[31]
6. Details are hard to find but it appears that Tamar Saracens were awarded with the Plate after South Molton were unable to raise a time for the final.^[32][33]
7. Two of North Tawton's cup wins were shared.
8. Four of Exmouth's cup wins were won by the reserve side.
9. Two of Totnes's cup wins were shared.
10. Paignton's figure includes Devon Junior Cup win by reserve side as well as a win by the Paignton Scarlet Runners, which is an older version of the modern club.
11. One of Brixham's cup wins was won by the reserve side.
12. One of Friernhay's cup wins was shared.
13. One of Teignmouth's cup wins was shared.
14. This victory was won by Devonport Albion's reserve side. The club would later merge with Plymouth RFC in the 1920s to form Plymouth Albion.
15. This was won by the reserve side of Exeter RFC (now Exeter Chiefs).

See also

• Devon RFU
• Devon Senior Cup
• Devon Intermediate Cup
• David Butt Memorial Trophy
• Havill Plate
• English rugby union system
• Rugby union in England