Exmouth 50 - 14 Barton Hill

This was the first visit to the Imperial Ground of Barton Hill Old Boys, one of two Bristol sides in this League. It was not a happy visit for them as although they looked very useful in some departments, the Cockles did not allow them to use the limited possession they had. For their part Exmouth had a blistering nine minute period immediately after half time when they scored twenty points putting the game out of reach to the visitors.

Barton Hill kicked off with a stiff wind blowing in from the river and within a minute Richard Cadywould posted the first score with a nicely flighted drop goal. The Old Boys could have drawn level shortly after but fly half Matt Richards’ penalty kick was off target. With ten minutes on the clock a Dale Sleeman surge took the Cockles within striking distance and when they won a penalty the ball was thumped to the visitors 22. A catch and drive was finished off by Ben Boswell and when Richard Cadywould kicked the conversion the 10pts-nil scoreline suggested a good afternoon ahead.

After this initial onslaught the Old Boys steadied things down a bit but with a steady scrum and secure lineout Exmouth were able to play some good rugby. Matt Hopper and Gary Hooper were both looking lively but it was a run by Paul Morgan that produced another penalty shot for Cadywould which he converted with aplomb. With half time beckoning Barton Hill literally threw away possession when the ball was thrown into touch and from the lineout the ball passed through the backs to winger Jack Downie for him to score. Richard Cadywould kicked the points and half time arrived with Exmouth in command with the score at 20pts-nil.

With only two minutes of the second half played Exmouth went further ahead with a Richard Cadywould penalty and when Gary Hooper streaked up field a minute later and offloaded for Paul Morgan a big score was in the offing. Cadywould converted the try and with the score at 30pts –nil things went from bad to worse for the Old Boys when they messed up the restart. The Exmouth put in was spot on, Gary Hooper picked the ball up from the base of the scrum, he raced towards the Barton Hill line and when he was held up tight head Thomas Blampied was in support to score his maiden try for the Cockles. Cadywould missed the conversion but within minutes he redeemed himself by slicing through the Old Boys defence to offload to Matt Hopper who took the ball at unstoppable pace to score an unconverted try.

Again Barton Hill steadied things down and they kept the Cockles in check for the next twenty minutes but with twenty eight minutes played they were again unable to hold the blistering pace of Matt Hopper who scored to take the tally to 45pts-nil. Almost immediately the Old Boys came back and scored through centre Dean Payne with Matt Richards adding the points. Back from injury, Club skipper Mark Wathes, was now on the field and looking lively but it was Ex skipper Stuart Lowe who engineered the Cockles final try passing to supporting Edwin Baxter to score wide out. The Old Boys had the final say when hooker Chad Orentas scored for Matt Richards to convert but the final score of 50pts-14 was confirmation that it had been the Cockles day.

With Barnstaple losing at Taunton this result returns the Cockles to the top of the League with Taunton now moving into second place.