Exmouth 5 - 27 Sidmouth

Once again the Exmouth side was missing several players and for the first time this season did not field their full player quota. But it was good to see Lee Loveridge back in an Exmouth shirt, starting at outside-centre, and adding some drive to the back line.

After an early scare Exmouth broke up field and scored first with an unconverted try by Joe Parkin. Joe was once again deputising for his older brother and had a great game in both attack and defence and unanimously was man of the match. It was from his own charge down that he won the race to score the try.

From the restart it was clear this had sparked the Sidmouth side and almost immediately came back with a converted try. The first half became al most one way traffic with Exmouth struggling to hold a much bigger pack in the scrums. Even when winning their own ball Joe Parkin was having to take ball from a retreating scrum - and handle the pressure very well.

The lie-outs were much more evenly contested and Sidmouth resorted to a shortened line to guarantee their own ball. In the lose both sides battled hard and another superb display of defensive tackling from Chris Button and Matt Kain which kept Sidmouth at bay. While Sam Bull was always in support and produced another gutsy performance.

In the back line Darren Wood had a solid game at fly-half and both Archie O'Connell and Lee manufacturer breaks that put pressure but without that final pass to cross the Sidmouth line.

It was interesting to see Terry Mears creep inside to add a further dimension but Sidmouth stood firm and quashed every line of attack.

Sam Reid made some confident catches and clearances and made some last gasp tackles to prevent further scores.

Both teams gave away too many penalties and this led to a player from each side having an enforced "time-out". Ben Halford from Sidmouth was the first to go followed by Lee Loveridge from Exmouth - both for repeated offences.

The strength and cohesive Sidmouth side kept the score board ticking over, other from a barren period in the second half. They scored 3 converted tries and 2 penalties to end deserved winners at 5-27.

But once again the promise of this young Exmouth team shone through and for most of the second half threatened the Sidmouth line but for a late converted try and penalty that provided a score-line that flattered Sidmouth. They were deserved winners but the results does not credit the significant contribution made by this young Exmouth side that defended well and made many chances to close the gap.