Sidmouth Under-9s enjoy first taste of tournament rugby at Withycombe

Sidmouth Under-9s experienced tournament rugby for the first time when they travelled to Withycombe.

There were ten teams on display at Withy’s Exmouth ground where Sidmouth were drawn on a pool alongside Honiton, Ivybridge, Bridport and a strong looking Taunton.

Game one, against Honiton saw Sidmouth take an early lead and not look back.

A full rotation of the squad saw Sidmouth hold the lead through to the final whistle.

Next up was a well-drilled and large Ivybridge squad, this was a more aggressive team with high tackles and hand-offs come flying in. The impartial referee took control from the second half and it settled down for a nail-biting finish. Sidmouth came through with two further tries to seal the victory and go into what was going to be the decider with Taunton.

Taunton came with a small, but strong squad. All the players looked very game aware and offloaded the ball in contact with ease. Despite the physical presence of the opposition Sidmouth held their own. Once again the squad was rotated to keep everybody involved and, in a might close encounter, it was the Somerset side that edged the game.

The final pool game was against Bridport by which time the energy levels were flagging and the Sidmouth game was error strewn. The error count cost field and turnover position, but ultimately Sidmouth were far too strong for Bridport.

Withycombe should be congratulated on staging a great event and all the Sidmouth players were delighted to be given a medal.