Sidmouth were in total control until 10 minutes into the second half, when they were leading 34-5 but had to survive an almighty scare before securing the 41-36 victory, writes Terry O’Brien.

The Chiefs made a brisk start when a good handling move created an overlap for Cian Warren to score in the corner. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Truro regained possession from the restart kick and moved the ball through several phases to create an overlap for their right winger to level the score with an unconverted try.

Jake Allen soon restored the lead with a penalty before George Locke ran a good angle to cut through the centre for a converted try. A few minutes later, Locke turned provider when his break led to a try for Rory O’Brien.

In the final minute of the half, Tom Hodge powered over from a tap penalty and the conversion made the half-time score 27-5.

Four minutes after the restart, some excellent passing under pressure created a try for Cameron Grainger, converted by Jake Allen. Then matters started to unravel for the Chiefs, as Ollie Derriman was yellow carded for a technical offence and Cian Warren was substituted to have a wound attended to. From the next scrum, Truro exploited a gap in the Sidmouth defence to score a converted try.

Shaun Malton and Josh Bess went off with injuries causing further major disruption. The Truro full back exploited Sidmouth errors to score two tries in quick succession. Two missed tackles allowed him in for the first before a badly sliced kick gave him the ball with an open field in front of him.

The Chiefs regained possession from the restart kick and worked the ball through several phases to create space for Cian Warren to weave his way over the line. Jake Allen added the conversion.

The Truro pack took control in the closing minutes to score two tries from lineout catch-and-drive plays. Both were converted to close the gap to four points, but the Chiefs managed to hold out through injury time.

On Saturday, there is a break in league action while the Sidmouth Veterans take on their Topsham counterparts at Blackmore, kicking off at 2:30pm, while the Colts entertain Newton Abbot at Sidford kicking off at 2.30pm.