U10s struggle against a good Cully side

Exmouth Under 10’s first match of the season was against a very good and well organised Cullompton side who wasted no time in running in four quick tries in the first quarter. Exmouth settled in the second quarter and showed their dominance in the rucks and mauls, one such maul was driven almost half the length of the pitch but the ball was lost and the superior passing game of Cullompton allowed them to score again. For long periods Exmouth had good possession but were unable to convert this into points. Exmouth had several runs down each wing and one such run from Owen Tidball, who was held just short of the line, allowed Exmouth to feed the ball to Stewart Masters and get Exmouth on the score board with their first try.

The third and fourth quarters were again fairly evenly balanced in possession and territory but Cullompton’s passing gave them an advantage which resulted in points being scored. Eddie Ford made a good run from deep in his own half but was nudged into touch. Following one long spell of Exmouth pressure on the Cullompton line, Arron Lee ran in a well deserved and long overdue second try for Exmouth.

Following another try from Cullompton Exmouth responded from the restart with some quick ball to luke Davis who showed his considerable pace to touch down for Exmouth’s third and final try. Again Exmouth held Cullompton on their line but this time Cullompton broke free and it needed a try saving tackle from Zoe Hall to prevent another score.

The Exmouth players should be proud of their performance which shows some great promise for the coming season unfortunately not reflected in the 55 -15 score line. The considerable effort put in by Harry Sprague with some penetrating runs through the middle, which often required three or more opponents to bring him down, resulted in him gaining the player of the match award.