U10s Exmouth 15 vs Saracens 35

with the young Cockles needing their full squad of 11 as a very useful Liam Daniels, later named Man of the Match, succumbed to a knee injury at half time, followed by Raff Gill hobbling off after a crunching tackle half way through the second half.
A strong Saracens team went into the lead a couple of minutes into the game, taking the rather rustier Home team by surprise with a straight run through for an easy try. Having got the Home team’s full attention the game became a battle for territory, most ground won or lost within the close contact of slow moving mauls; the sizeable Away team using their strength in size to push their advantage, but Exmouth players battled well and for much of the match ground was gained laboriously.
Never a team to be easily beaten Exmouth rallied to the cause and showed some determined play and, standing three tries down, pure determination saw them push the play their way, Ueane Brockway eventually took the ball close to the try line, before Liam Daniels dropped it over to gain the young Cockles first try seconds before the half time whistle.
A cold but resolute squad came out after half time determined to speed up play, but the Saracens strong defending left most Cockles break away attacks short lived. Two more Away tries were on the score board before the Home team saw their chance, Connor Philps racing up the wing for a very neat try. Another Saracen try followed, leaving several Cockle tacklers in the scorer’s wake to earn the Saracens their final try of the match.
With a couple of minutes left to play the cockles pulled out all the stops and produced the best display of team work seen throughout; strong work in the maul from the forwards saw them taking the ball out and passing wide to the wing where Finn Musgrove put his speed to good use and finished off an awesome final try of the match. A real display of young Cockles teamwork at its best!
Outstanding effort today went to a deserving Dan Brooks who was seen to be effective throughout the match in all areas of play.
Saracens earned a well-deserved win playing to their strengths and forcing the home team to spend much time and energy defending through close contact play. However, the Cockles had much to be pleased with, and showed that training time spent on rucking and mauling was paying off; they fought well against a considerably more sizable team to hold their ground.
And the kitchen crew’s hot pasta went down a treat by all concerned today!