Taunton 32 - 13 Exmouth
A string of events conspired against Exmouth before and during their 32-13 defeat to league leaders Taunton in National Three South West.
Both Mark Wathes and Jordan Kelly had to drop out of the Cockles' travelling squad at the last minute due to flu while Paul Morgan was only able to turn up at the ground 15 minutes before kick-off due to work commitments.
The visitors' luck did not get much better once the game kicked off, as Adam Wylie suffered a dislocated shoulder and prop Jack Andrews had a back spasm, while Richard Cadywould was forced to play most of the match with a hamstring problem.
The result was that leaders Taunton took full control of the game before half-time.
But Exmouth head coach Nick Southern was still proud of the effort his men put in. "It was a good performance. We had to make a lot of changes at the last minute so we didn't go up there with the side we wanted to, but I couldn't have asked for any more from the players. The feedback we got from Taunton was that we are the best side they have played this season, which was nice praise from them. If we hadn't had all those injuries and unavailabilities then things might have been different.”
Taunton made a rapid start to the match and they were 10 points up in the first 10 minutes. However, the Cockles were awarded a penalty which Shaun Fayter duly kicked to put Exmouth on the scoreboard but Taunton were soon back in the driving seat scoring 3 further tries.
Exmouth fought back and Bradley Perkins, one of those players who had received a late call-up into the side, beat his man to score an unconverted try, the missed kick prompting the half time whistle and the score Taunton 29 Exmouth 8.
The Cockles' performance improved even more after the interval and with some sterllng defence they restricted the Somerset outfit to a solitary penalty, while Matt Ryan grabbed the Cockles second try, which was unconverted.
Southern said: "The expectation before the game was that Taunton would win because they are flying high, they have invested heavily and they are able to field a steady side.
We have had some hard games in recent weeks but all I can hope for is more consistency because the belief and confidence is already there.