Sat 28 Sep 2024
It was another glorious day in Sidmouth last Saturday as the Quins hosted Exeter Athletic at the Blackmore. Whilst the home side were without 8 of the team that emerged victorious at Teignmouth the week before, through a combination of wedding attendance, 1st XV call ups and injury, they still proved to have just too much for a big Exeter side and as a consequence stil sit at the top of the League.
It was Exeter who started the quicker as they capitalised on a few uncharacteristic Sidmouth mistakes to make ground deep in the home sides 22. When Sidmouth interfered in the ruck the visiting outside half took the easy 3 points on offer to put them ahead.
The lead was short lived as some excellent work from the kick off saw Sidmouth get a penalty straight back and skipper James Docherty knocked it over from the 10m line to level things up.
Sidmouth's ability to get out of their own half put the visitors under constant pressure and the tempo from both forwards and backs had Exeter on the back foot from the off. Within 15 minutes Sidmouth were leading 9-3 as the penalty count mounted up in their favour.
The referee's patience with Exeter finally went after about 25 minutes as repeated offences within their 22m saw their flanker sent to the sin bin, and from the resulting penalty Sidmouth worked a number of phases through the forwards before veteran hooker Neil Barratt celebrated making it unscathed through the warm up for the first time this season by squeezing over the whitewash to extend Sidmouth's lead to 16-3.
Having started the game on the back foot in the face a much bigger Exeter pack the Sidmouth front row of Ned Coles, Barratt and the ever improving Charlie Farrington-Smith steadily grew in to the game through the first half whilst the lineout from Tom Butler was impeccable throughout allowing Charles Edwards at scrum half to provide the backs with a regular supply of good ball. As the sides went in at half time it was Sidmouth who were comfortably on top.
The start of the second half did not go to plan as an unfortunate tackle from James Perchard-Richards saw him take a 10 minute rest at the referee's instruction. And it didn't take Exeter long to capitalise on their numerical advantage as they exploited a slip from outstanding inside centre Jack Hembrow to get back in the match at 16-10.
That one slip aside Hembrow and fellow centre Tom Price were imperious in defence, along with wings Alex Clemo-Crosby and Mark Dapling with Exeter failing to make any other clean breaks in the rest of the match. And whilst previous wins this season have been built on incredible attacking prowess, Saturday saw sustained periods of significant pressure applied to the Sidmouth line by Exeter which was consistently repelled by the green wall in particular through the forward pack with Kyle Baker, Ryan Davies and Jake Paget to the fore.
It is a sign of the change in the Quins fortunes this year that despite the numbers lost from last weekend they still boasted a full bench and when Harrison Howe, Henry Williams, Alfie Collins and Adam Squance made their entrance after 50 minutes the impact was immediate. The extra ballast up front saw complete parity achieved at scrum time and a penalty from Docherty saw the Sidmouth lead extend out to 9 points with 25 minutes to go.
Sidmouth's outstanding defence built their confidence and this started to show in possession as an electric 60 yard break from full back Harvey Green set up yet another attacking position. Clemo-Crosby having moved from wing to scrum half at half time added some zip around the tight phases, helped enormously by some physical work from the pack against tiring opponents, and it was some neat handling down the blindside that saw Tom Butler saunter over for Sidmouth's second try.
As the game wound down both sides had opportunities to score but it was Exeter who had the better of the match as the game entered the final throes but, just as was the case last week at Teignmouth, the Quins refused to allow their line to be breached even in the last plays when the game was won. Skipper Docherty took a yellow card with 30 seconds to go but even then the visitors were unable to force their way through as Sidmouth held on for another fine victory.
Sidmouth II: Charlie Farrington-Smith, Neil Barratt, Ned Coles, Tom Butler, Kyle Baker (Alfie Collins), James Perchard-Richards (Henry Williams), Jake Paget, Ryan Davies (Harrison Howe), Charles Edwards, James Docherty, Mark Dapling (Adam Squance), Jack Hembrow, Tom Price, Alex Clemo-Crosby, Harvey Green
Scorers: N Barratt (T), T Butler (T), J Docherty (4P/1C)
It was Exeter who started the quicker as they capitalised on a few uncharacteristic Sidmouth mistakes to make ground deep in the home sides 22. When Sidmouth interfered in the ruck the visiting outside half took the easy 3 points on offer to put them ahead.
The lead was short lived as some excellent work from the kick off saw Sidmouth get a penalty straight back and skipper James Docherty knocked it over from the 10m line to level things up.
Sidmouth's ability to get out of their own half put the visitors under constant pressure and the tempo from both forwards and backs had Exeter on the back foot from the off. Within 15 minutes Sidmouth were leading 9-3 as the penalty count mounted up in their favour.
The referee's patience with Exeter finally went after about 25 minutes as repeated offences within their 22m saw their flanker sent to the sin bin, and from the resulting penalty Sidmouth worked a number of phases through the forwards before veteran hooker Neil Barratt celebrated making it unscathed through the warm up for the first time this season by squeezing over the whitewash to extend Sidmouth's lead to 16-3.
Having started the game on the back foot in the face a much bigger Exeter pack the Sidmouth front row of Ned Coles, Barratt and the ever improving Charlie Farrington-Smith steadily grew in to the game through the first half whilst the lineout from Tom Butler was impeccable throughout allowing Charles Edwards at scrum half to provide the backs with a regular supply of good ball. As the sides went in at half time it was Sidmouth who were comfortably on top.
The start of the second half did not go to plan as an unfortunate tackle from James Perchard-Richards saw him take a 10 minute rest at the referee's instruction. And it didn't take Exeter long to capitalise on their numerical advantage as they exploited a slip from outstanding inside centre Jack Hembrow to get back in the match at 16-10.
That one slip aside Hembrow and fellow centre Tom Price were imperious in defence, along with wings Alex Clemo-Crosby and Mark Dapling with Exeter failing to make any other clean breaks in the rest of the match. And whilst previous wins this season have been built on incredible attacking prowess, Saturday saw sustained periods of significant pressure applied to the Sidmouth line by Exeter which was consistently repelled by the green wall in particular through the forward pack with Kyle Baker, Ryan Davies and Jake Paget to the fore.
It is a sign of the change in the Quins fortunes this year that despite the numbers lost from last weekend they still boasted a full bench and when Harrison Howe, Henry Williams, Alfie Collins and Adam Squance made their entrance after 50 minutes the impact was immediate. The extra ballast up front saw complete parity achieved at scrum time and a penalty from Docherty saw the Sidmouth lead extend out to 9 points with 25 minutes to go.
Sidmouth's outstanding defence built their confidence and this started to show in possession as an electric 60 yard break from full back Harvey Green set up yet another attacking position. Clemo-Crosby having moved from wing to scrum half at half time added some zip around the tight phases, helped enormously by some physical work from the pack against tiring opponents, and it was some neat handling down the blindside that saw Tom Butler saunter over for Sidmouth's second try.
As the game wound down both sides had opportunities to score but it was Exeter who had the better of the match as the game entered the final throes but, just as was the case last week at Teignmouth, the Quins refused to allow their line to be breached even in the last plays when the game was won. Skipper Docherty took a yellow card with 30 seconds to go but even then the visitors were unable to force their way through as Sidmouth held on for another fine victory.
Sidmouth II: Charlie Farrington-Smith, Neil Barratt, Ned Coles, Tom Butler, Kyle Baker (Alfie Collins), James Perchard-Richards (Henry Williams), Jake Paget, Ryan Davies (Harrison Howe), Charles Edwards, James Docherty, Mark Dapling (Adam Squance), Jack Hembrow, Tom Price, Alex Clemo-Crosby, Harvey Green
Scorers: N Barratt (T), T Butler (T), J Docherty (4P/1C)
