Sidmouth were beaten 36-15 in their opening Tribute South West One game at Cleve.
However, it had all begun so promisingly got the Chiefs who made a bright start and were quickly into their stride with two Luke Wells-Burr tries and a Dan Retter conversion seeing them into an early 12-0 lead.
The home side got a converted try back before the break and then levelled things up early in the second half.
However, a Retter penalty just after parity had been restored saw the Chiefs back into the lead.
In a see-saw contest, Cleve took the lead for the first time midway through the second half with a try.
Sadly, for a good band of travelling support, the home side struck again to take a 24-15 lead as the Chiefs defence, that had been so dominant throughout the first 40 minutes, began to creak!
It was the home side who finished the stronger and, at full-time it was Cleve celebrating opening day success.
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