COCKLES lads knew they would be in for a tough outing in the Forest of Dean, visiting Lydney RFC, who had been flooded under two feet of water at the beginning of the week. Fair play to the volunteers & local support that got this game on. The emotions were running high from the home team, however once again we came away with a bonus point victory. All the more sweet away from home.

We took an early lead on ten minutes through Charlie Gibbings, the first of his brace. Lydney hit back with a converted try, score 7-5 after 15 minutes. It was nip and tuck from both teams, the hosts slotted a penalty to take them back in front 10-5, before Lewis Geran touched down after some great handling and chase to get to the corner, George Meadows added the extras 10-12. Both teams were looking to play wide, Lydney were on the attack when a handling error resulted in Fin Marks picking the ball up & racing away from inside our own half to run in under the posts, Meads conversion 10-19. Before the end of the first forty minutes both teams traded penalty scores, 13-22 at half time.

Never over until it’s over, certainly true in an edgy second period. COCKLES seemed to move on with a lovely try finished off by Jake Inglis, following an electric run from Charlie Passmore fielding a clearance kick, Meadows hit the crossbar, 13-27. Lydney fought back and scored a converted try after sixty minutes, 20-27, they were definitely chasing the game with twenty minutes left on the clock. We did drop to fourteen men on a couple of occasions throughout from technical offences, playing 30 minutes with one man short does not help the cause, however the rest of the lads stepped up. Losing Dougie Chappell to injury early on did mean a reshuffle through the side, the boys coped well with the disruption. When Charlie Gibbings smashed over for his second try, the game looked over, 20-32. With the clock deep in the red, what seemed like an eternity of defending, Lydney finally came away with a late consolation try, converted, 27-32 final score at full time.

Five more league points from a complete team performance, especially on the road. We continue top of Regional 1 South West League. Always looking to improve, the squad will regroup to fine tune for next week. The lads did bump into Barnstaple at Gordano Services, on their way back after their win, the top 2 teams will meet each other again on 4th January on the road.

Saturday 7th December, EXMOUTH RUGBY 1st TEAM take on Matson RFC from Gloucester. Reaching the halfway point in league fixtures this term. Kick off at 2.00 pm. QUINS & NOMADS make the short journey up to Topsham to take on 2nd & 3rd XV respectively. COCKLES COLTS start their second phase Shield fixtures with a home game with Exeter Saracens Colts.
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COCKLES QUINS shared the spoils, earning bonus points with a 28-28 draw against a lively Dartmouth team. NOMADS went down 29-5 to Exeter Engineers, university students, a late change of venue played at Bicton as the Engineers ground was unplayable.

On Sunday EXMOUTH RUGBY WOMEN got the Allianz Inner Warrior Series campaign underway with a 41-5 win over Sherborne RFC Women. An entertaining game that was a lot closer than the score suggests.

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