Pyne try signals Chiefs' revival

The Chiefs overcame the worst of starts to remove Tiverton from the promotion equation thanks to a strong second half performance which produced 22 unanswered points. The visitors had an edge in the set pieces throughout and, with the wind at their backs in the first half, their good kicking game kept the Chiefs on the back foot. Once that advantage was gone, Sidmouth's superior pace and handling came to the fore.Tiverton took the lead inside two minutes as they benefited from a comedy of errors. The Chiefs misjudged the kick off, allowing it to bounce into touch on their 22. Then they lost two consecutive lineout throws to give Tiverton possession close to their line. Two rucks later the scrum half darted over for a try which was converted by the fly half.The resulting restart kick failed to go 10 metres giving the initiative back to Tiverton. The Chiefs survived the next attack and soon created two scoring chances of their own only to see a penalty attempt drift just wide of the post and a handling error after good work by the forwards had taken play to the Tiverton line.Thanks to the wind Tiverton had territorial advantage through the middle of the half and increased their lead with a penalty. A superb break by Harry Chesterton carved open the defence but the cover got to him just before he could link with his support. Soon after a Dan Retter penalty got the Chiefs on the scoreboard, but this was quickly cancelled by a second Tiverton penalty. The Chiefs finished the half strongly. Andy Matchett forced his way over the line but the referee adjudged that he did not ground the ball. However, he brought play back for a penalty which Dan Retter kicked to make the halftime score 6-13.Sidmouth made as dramatic a start to the second half as the visitors had to the first. They followed up the kick-off to put Tiverton under pressure in a ruck just inside the 22. The visitors conceded a penalty and Steve Trim took it quickly. His run was stopped just short of the line but Jack Pyne was on hand to power his way over when the ball was recycled. Dan Retter added the conversion to level the scores.To maintain the symmetry, the restart kick failed to cross the 10 metre line and the Chiefs used the resulting scrum to launch another attack. A few minutes later, Jack Pyne produced another storming run after the ball had been turned over from a ruck. He was stopped just short of the line but kept the ball available for Dan Trim to finish the move off. Retter added the extras.Tiverton had a good share of possession but, against the wind, their kicking game was ineffective and, when their backs managed to get their handling right, they ran into a brick wall defence.A good individual run by Andy Matchett almost produced a try but he was brought down just short of the line. However, the referee had been playing advantage and awarded a penalty and Dan Retter kicked another three points. The try of the match followed when a Tiverton clearance kick failed to find touch. Andy Matchett ran it back from his own half. Tim Phipps and Dan Trim carried the move on and Steve Trim dived over in the corner to finish off the move and the scoring.Pyne's Bar Man of the Match was Rhys Thomas who is sponsored by Taff's Taxis.