Sidmouth Quins overcame an experienced Tiverton team, producing an entertaining Merit Table victory at Sidford.

Sidmouth RFC 2nds 23, Tiverton 2nds 15Sidmouth Quins overcame an experienced Tiverton team, producing an entertaining Merit Table victory at Sidford. Sidmouth forwards started brightly with the mobile back row trio of Andrew Eustace, James Matthews and James Salter hounding the visitors back into their 22, forcing a penalty from killing the ball at a ruck in front of the posts. Fly half Glenn Channing duly converted.The Quins extended their lead with a simple miss move, a ball from fly half straight to full back Sam Cummins who put away wing Matt Gingell for a 40 metre run in to score wide out. Glenn Channing converted.Tiverton, with the larger pack, opted for the tight driving game, realising the Quins' strength was for a more open play. It did pay off once when the fly half broke through to score a converted try under the posts but invariably came to nothing as the defence cleaned up.With good quality first phase ball from both scrum and line-outs, Bryn Thomas, Tom Butler and James Matthews providing options, Sidmouth tried to stretch Tiverton's defence. Centres Ollie Derryman and Keith Upham created opportunities for good second phase ball but all too often silly penalties ended the moves.In the second half Sidmouth produced several plays where forwards and backs linked well to make ground, only thwarted by a stubborn defence. The Quins' chance to increase their lead came after the Tiverton open side flanker was sin-binned for a deliberate obstruction. Space came for Glenn Channing to side-step over for a try under the posts which he converted, a penalty followed, giving 10 points in the 10 minutes, the errant player off.The visitors, needing three scores for a result, pressured the Sidmouth line at every opportunity, and were rewarded with a converted try and penalty. With the clock ticking, the Quins' defence stayed sound and the win was made safe.