Exmouth Dominate but lose to Exeter Chiefs
The young cockles were by far the better side for the duration of the game and were unlucky not to come away with a win.
Exmouth Under 12’s made a bright start in what can only be described as miserable weather at Sandy Park (the home of Exeter Chiefs) on Sunday. The young cockles were by far the better side for the duration of the game and were unlucky not to come away with a win. During a tough first half Exmouth dominated to such an extent that the chiefs only entered the cockles half on two occasions, but the young cockles found it difficult to convert the territory into points. Threatening the chief’s line many times but not managing to score until eventually they were rewarded with a try from a combined drive by Luke Davis & Owen Tidball and the extra two points thanks to the boot of Ben Dawson. The back line partnership of Dawson & Tidball with scrum half Stewart Masters was working well and keeping the chief pinned well back. Indeed the Exmouth back line were closing down their opponents at every opportunity and preventing the known threat from the chief’s centre from having time to show the skill seen in previous encounters. Tidball was also particularly threatening with the ball in hand throughout the match and was playing with a renewed vigour not seen for a little while.
The second half was played out in much the same way but with a few changes to the team the chiefs found a bit more room to play and started to match Exmouth in territory and a well worked move saw the chiefs winger cross for an equalising try and conversion. Exmouth continued to dominate but against the run of play the chiefs scored a controversial try which the Exmouth supporters felt was successfully held up by Harry Neath Rogers. The decision stood but the Cockles felt they were hard done by, however this game should have been wrapped up in the first half when the chiefs were having to defend desperately for long periods.
The Cockles can take away many positives from the game and be pleased with the gutsy performance throughout but need to be a bit more clinical in the execution of set plays. Too many scrums and Lineouts were lost. Get this right and they will be a tough team to beat.
