Sidmouth Under-12s had a superb turnout in numbers for their meeting with Honiton.

It meant splitting the players into two teams with both teams playing two quarters each.

The first quarter saw a real tussle between the two teams, with cold hands from both sides leading to a series of knock-ons and scrums. Honiton camped out in the Sidmouth half for several minutes before a relentless series of phases led to them breaching the try line for the first score. Some scrappy play from both sides ensued, until a good individual attack from Honiton got through some weak tackling for the second score. Sidmouth tried too hard in this first quarter, turning the ball over repeatedly due to panicked offloads rather than taking contact, until another Honiton run through weak tackling resulted in the third try.

By the third quarter, the sides had warmed up a bit and Sidmouth made more of a fight of the game. After a few minutes a good team drive from Honiton got them over for the first score, and shortly after, having spent some minutes camped out on the Sidmouth try line, Honiton crossed again. There followed a glorious passage of play from Sidmouth, with phase after phase moving the ball forward, with great support play from the whole team. This ended with a lovely dummy from Harry Lister bought by the whole Honiton team followed by a strong run upfield. A good last-ditch tackle from Honiton stopped that particular run, but the great support regained the ball and a phase later Harry crashed over for the score. Unfortunately that hard work was immediately reversed as Sidmouth conceded a soft try straight from the kickoff. The quarter was brought to an end with a good try from Honiton from a turnover.

The other Sidmouth side were more polished and aggressive and started the scoring in the second quarter with a great run straight from a scrum. A passage of end to end play ensued, with both sides showing good skill. The deadlock was broken by a lovely chip and gather from Noah Western followed by a gallop to the line. Honiton then came back into the game with several minutes of pressure after a mistake from the Sidmouth kickoff gave them possession, eventually resulting in a fine team try.

The fourth quarter was again a tight affair, with both sides mounting a keen contest. Noah Innes-Kruger was the first to score for Sidmouth, bulling over the line with a great leg drive. Honiton came back with a score from a great wingers run, before a beautiful individual bit of skill from Sidmouth – a tap-tackle, a rip and a canter to the line leading to the score.

Coach John Lister said: “It was great to see such a sporting contest, with end-to-end rugby played in great spirit.”