Exmouth 10 - 36 Old Patesians

Exmouth head coach Nick Southern tipped Old Patesians to make a sustained challenge for the league title after their 36-10 win at the Imperial Ground on Saturday.

 
Southern admitted the visitors were the better side and fully deserved their win. But there were also plenty of positives for the Cockles to take out of the game and Southern was particularly pleased with the way his side battled in the second half. He said: "Very few teams will be able to cope against Old Pats. They were a very good side with lots of experience.  They had a lot of guys who have played at a higher level and you could see that from the way they played the game — quick, intense and the damage was done in the first half.

 
But one of the positives we can take is we were able to raise our game in the second half and we played with some intensity." The Cockles made a slow start and were 17-0 down before they got on the scoreboard thanks to Richard Cadywould's penalty. Exmouth’s try,  when it came, was a cracker,  and at the time, got the Cockles back to 22-10 down.  Chris Strong moved the ball out of defence,  Jack Downie took it through the midfield and beyond, and when he was collared near the Old Pats line, up came Rich Cadywould to crash over by the posts, converting his own try.

 
But Old Patesians put another 14 points on the board before referee Clare Daniels blew  the final whistle. Southern said: "We put them under a lot of pressure in the second half but we didn't turn it into points. "The Cockles realised the only way they were going to get back into the game was to increase the intensity, and for them to raise their game like that was very positive.

 
"It wasn't a bad performance from us. A loss is always going to be disappointing, but when you play against a good team and they win,  then you have got to hold your hands up and admit they were better."