Sidmouth Under-12s slip to defeat in the English Riviera

Torquay 18, Sidmouth 12. The English Riviera murmured quietly as flat seas and still conditions welcomed Sidmouth Under-12s to the Bay, writes Craig Moran.

We ventured down slightly low on numbers which allowed most players a full crack of the whip with regard to game time. Ollie Jones and Sam Bond steamed into the large ‘Tic’ pack whilst debutant Ben Deam manfully accepted a stint in the engine room of the second row.

Specialist South African forward coach Dwight Pensagrouw has worked hard on tight five body position and is ushering in an uncompromising Springbok approach to ‘manning up’ in contact.

This prevailed with both Jacks, Mattie and Cole standing strong throughout the forward affray.

Outside the Pack the threes lived on scraps and discovered the imperfect science of practise ground moves not going quite to plan in game time.

Chin up lads – practise makes perfect! Jack Turbitt took the brunt of Torquay’s thrust and was forced to retire damaged after tackling hard on the wing. Jamie Wyant worked tirelessly in support and flung himself repeatedly at Torquay’s thighs whilst defending hard. Josh Roberts took man of the match for being at the heart of most Sidmouth attacks whilst demonstrating commitment in all aspects of the game above and beyond the call of duty.