The Quins suffered their first home defeat of the season in this Dave Butt Cup semi-final played in front of a crowd of more than 200 spectators at the Blackmore Field, going down 29-8 to Torquay Athletic 2nd XV.

The Quins failed to turn their first-half superiority into points and the bigger Torquay pack gradually took control after the break.

Three yellow cards did not help the Sidmouth cause as they played for a full half hour with 14 men.

The Quins started brightly, and it was against the run of play that Torquay took the lead with a penalty kicked by the full back, whose six successful kicks out of seven contributed to a margin of victory which did not reflect the Quins’ contribution to the game.

Jake Watts kicked a penalty to level the scores after 15 minutes. A few minutes later, Morgan Taverner was tackled into touch a couple of metres short of the line after a Dan Ledger break from the base of a scrum had initiated a good handling move.

The Quins continued to press in the Torquay half and again came close with a lineout catch-and-drive play. Soon after, a Jevon Astley-Jones run came close to giving his side a deserved lead.

When Dan Ledger was sent to the sin bin, the Torquay pack took advantage of the extra man in the scrums to exert pressure and gain a penalty in injury time. The full back kicked the goal to give his side a 6-3 half-time lead.

Ten minutes into the second half, Torquay scored the first try of the game, when the inside centre cut through from a five-metre scrum to touch down near the posts. The try was converted.

Ollie Perez and Johnny Hamill were both shown the yellow card in the third quarter, allowing the visitors to build up a momentum the Quins could not resist. The number eight forced his way over the line following a period of pressure on the Sidmouth line.

The conversion opened up a 17- point lead. A penalty extended it to 20 points soon after.

Jevon Astley-Jones scored a try from a quick tap penalty move to give his side hope with 10 minutes to go, but Torquay ensured a place in the final with two late penalties to complete the scoring.