Exmouth 7, Sidmouth 14 Sidmouth Under-12s returned to action and, despite signs of early rustiness, went onto record a deserved victory, writes Craig Morgan.

As the tide dropped at Exmouth so the pitch revealed itself and the Sidmouth’s green army set about the business of dealing with the Cockles huge pack.

In the first half our forwards more or less held their own, but a huge gap in the three quarter’s quality revealed itself and Sidmouth regularly threatened.

The interplay between Will, Bondi, Jack and Josh was at times breath-taking and like a key in the lock, regularly undid Exmouth’s defence.

The opening try was scored by Sidmouth playmaker Kennaugh, just reward for being virtually unstoppable all game!

Louis Stamp then chipped in scoring with grit and determination to put Sidmouth two tries top the good.

The second half saw debutant Ollie Leyshon thrown in at the deep end. Heroically he gave everything, but even with our completely new set of forwards, Exmouth started to dominate the exchanges. When the home side big number-eight began to dictate, Jamie Wyant, small in stature, produced the tackle of the game to fell their mighty Oak!

In the dying minutes their big man did manage to barge through some weak tackles for a consolation try.

A slightly rusty performance after the long wet lay off but a result to be proud of again.