Plymouth Devils suffer season opening Rye House defeat

Plymouth Devils suffered a heavy 52-40 defeat to Rye House Rockets in their first competitive match of the season.

New signing Mark Lemon top scored for Plymouth with 12, supported well by reserve Todd Kurtz (11) but that could not prevent the opening-day defeat.

Devils were on the end of a 5-1 reversal in the first heat and were never able to get back on level terms.

By heat 10 the gap had closed to two points but back-to-back heat maximums from the Rockets secured the win.

The home defeat already leaves Plymouth struggling to qualify from the Southern group of the League Cup with only the winners of their four-team pool making it through.