Sidmouth Under-8s journeyed up the M5 to play matches at Wellington, writes Jon Manning.

On the team sheet for the match were Charlie Brock, Oliver Marsh, Toby Sandford, Zac and Luca Arver, Luca Manning and, joining for a one-off appearance on his visit from Australia, Oliver Mawle.

The boys were excited and raring to go for their first encounter. Oliver Marsh took up the first captaincy of the day and won the toss a good omen for things to come. Luca Manning was first on the score sheet with one of his three tries in the first half, Toby Sandford also going over to make it 4-2 to Sidmouth at the break. A well contested second half saw two tries for Oliver Marsh and one for Charlie Brock. Fantastic team spirit saw the boys finish successfully with a win at 7-4.

Our guest team member Oliver Mawle lost the toss, but that only made the boys want to play harder. Starting without the ball they quickly tagged the Wellington team and got the turnover. A replica of the first game Luca Manning came through to score the first try and would add another shortly after to take his tally up to five for the day. Oliver Marsh scored another great try bursting through for a straight run, which brought his total for the day to three and Sidmouth went into the break with a 3-0 lead.

A quick refreshment break and the boys were ready to go again, this time Zac Arver with a darting run, then Charlie Brock went over for one and then would powerfully break the line to score a second and his third of the day.

Not to be outdone by his brother, Luca went over the try line. Some great tagging by Oliver Mawle kept Wellington at bay and the boys finished with a convincing 7-0 winners.

A great day (and dry!) and well done to a fantastic team effort. Thank you for all the parents who ventured up the M5 to support the boys who were amazing.