Sidmouth Under-12s took part in a brief and small tournament at Honiton, on a pitch more mud than grass.

Sidmouth started off playing the hosts. The pre-game tackling practice paid off, with some stout defending, but the conditions didn’t suit Sidmouth’s passing game and too many knock-ons repeatedly passed possession back to Honiton. The home team played the conditions well, hoofing the ball downfield at every opportunity, with the result that Sidmouth spent the whole game on the back foot. As a result, Sidmouth conceded two tries in the first half and one in the second.

The second match, against Exmouth, was completely different. The passes started to stick, and direct running paid dividends, with Sidmouth spending almost the whole game in the Exmouth half.

Tragically, despite apparently going over the try line three times, Sidmouth never managed to get the ball down, so a blank score sheet resulted. A knock-on over the line with the last play of the game was particularly unfortunate.