They made their intentions clear after two minutes with an attacking scrum on the Liskeard 10m line. It gave Liv M clean ball who popped it to Anna who, seeing there were limited defenders in depth, kicked it through catching them off guard, before kicking it again over the try line to dot down and score.

A few moments later Lexi ran into the Liskeard half before again, seeing no one at home kicked the ball through and chasing her own kick, outpacing the defence to dot the ball down on the far left hand side. Due to the match ball being shaved and covered in oil it was a game of multiple knock ons from both sides which interrupted the fluidity of the game, but the forward pack never stopped driving, with Ruby C and Emily F encouraging the girls forward and in open play strong carries from Jasmin, Emily and Leila constantly breaking the gain line making the hard yards.

Halfway through the first half Maggie received the ball on halfway before making a break down the left hand side with a powerful handoff before a dainty switch with Anna who lit the afterburners and scorched in for another try under the posts.
Just before the half ended another fantastic team try by the young cockles with the captain Chloe popping to Jaz, who whilst being tackled popped it to Anna who ran in her hat trick.

Exmouth didn’t have it all their own way though, and with a tremendous effort and sustained pressure Liskaerd were awarded a penalty 5 metres from the cockle’s line. Exmouth were slow to react, and Elena powered over from short range giving the hosts something to play for.

At the beginning of the second half Exmouth were camped in their opponents 22 and a war of attrition began, with some fantastic defence by the hosts. Exmouth were working out how to break down the defence and after an unsuccessful clearance kick, off the back of the resulting ruck, the ball was popped to Maggie on the left hand side who noticed a mis match and ran the ball in from the 10m line with a lovely sidestep to bamboozle the last defender. With their confidence back, it was only a matter of time before they scored again, with a beautiful team try through a lot of hands, Emily F barrelled over.
Not to be outdone by the forwards Liv M gathered the ball from the back of a ruck and noticing there was no one in front of her, galloped in for her well-deserved first try in a Cockles jersey.

But it wasn’t over there. Camped in their opponents 22 the girls exploited the gaps and a flowing move through the hands again from right to left, with Chloe pulling the strings, allowing Lexi to show her speed and footwork that would put Michael Flatley to shame to dot down.

The final try came from a loose ball from the back of the scrum and with great vision and determination, Anna sped past three defenders and sprinted in to score. With the challenging conversions added by Lexi the final score was 7-51.

A genuine fantastic team effort by all. Every girl played their part in this win. The attack was a pleasure to behold with the forwards and backs interlinking and supporting each other. The defence was rock solid with the girls equally supporting each other, closing the gaps, and hunting the opposition ball carriers down and competing superbly in the rucks.

Next match is Ivybridge at home in the Devon Cup this Sunday 24th November – Come down and support the girls.

Please join us.

#COCKLES