Exmouth 32 - 5 Newton Abbot

A messy first half that lacked the usual disciplined and organised structure that we have come to expect from the Cockles. The Cockles received from the kick off and quickly took the ball into Newton’s half. An abundance of constant pressure could not break down a gritty and gutsy Newton defence. Eventually the breakthrough came for the Cockles after a series of pickup and drives from the breakdown when after being encamped in the opposition’s half Olly Howard drove over for the first try in the 11th minute.

The next five minutes were much the same with the forwards trying to bludgeon their way to the line with scant regard for the huge overlap created by the backs. The pressure was unrelenting from the Cockles but they were unable to capitalise from their territorial advantage until Lloyd Watkins delivered a nicely weighted pass to Bradley Nielsen who slotted home a sweetly struck Drop Goal from just inside the 22 in the 17th minute. Newton had a couple of brief forays into the home team’s half without much success. The Cockles were still struggling to find any structure and were making hard work of getting the ball back up the field. The forwards continued to pick and drive and eventually a third try came from Simon Hartery in the 23rd min.

Half time came and gave the team chance to take stock and correct a few structural areas of the game. It again took a while for the team to settle but the flow of the match was much improved with fast ball coming from the break down and for the first time in the game the backs being brought into the attack. Newton, to their credit continued to battle hard and made progress very difficult. A neat move on the blind side opened a gap that Simon Hartery took full advantage of and powered down the line to score his second try in the 18th minute. Bradley Nielsen converted.

The game restarted with a long kick to the Cockle’s wing which was not dealt with and left an easy run in for Newton’s first try. Newton continued to pressure and look for a second score only to be denied by some pin point kicking from Nielsen to relieve the situation. With some slick passing and kicking the Cockles cleared their lines and moved to the business end of the field. After several phases of play Olly Howard drove through the gain line and offloaded to Aaron Conway who cut through the defence with a lovely line to score in the 21st minute. Nielsen converted.

As the game drew to an end the Cockles made several changes but continued to dictate the game and were eventually rewarded with a final try from Joe Biddoff. Although the Cockles took some time to get into their rhythm and control the game they came away with a well earned victory against a tenacious Newton Abbot team. Bradley Nielsen was awarded the man of the match for outstanding control of the back line and pin point kicking.