Sidmouth Under-9s met Withycombe for a series of well-contested and spirited matches.

The Sidmouth green team enjoyed a terrific morning and ended unbeaten in the three matches they played.

Archie Rowcliffe, Tom Bird, Harry Madge , Zac Arver and Luca Arver all had some really powerful runs with the ball and scored a number of tries each. The tackling across the team continues to improve and Ben Brook, Thomas Biggers and Laisey Jackson all did well in this department of the game.

The passing from the base of the tackle was brilliant and Ben Brook and Luca Arver showed some great vision to unleash unmarked wings for easy tries.

The Sidmouth orange team showed their mettle from the outset. There was some strong tackling from Alec Bagwell and Thomas Grove, often winning turnover ball.

The Withy attack focussed on the central channel, but each time the robust defence of the home side repelled them. There was some sparkling running from Charley Turley and Alexander Goody, both of whom poached tried.

Scott Munro Higgs ran the wings with real menace and Harry Wood used his height to great effect to lunge for the try line in the second half. Herbie Isherwood showed good tactical nous and ran cute supporting lines while Sam Hartland was constantly in the mix to see the team home to a 8-0 victory.

Sidmouth purple played a couple of warm-up games against some of their club mates before they met a Withy side. In their matches team purple saw some hard running from Arlo Squires coupled with good interplay from William Allen and Matthew Thomas to round off tries. Twins William and Toby Morris played an important all-round role in what was a great team effort. There was also some good scrum-half passing shown from newcomer Roman Moore whilst Oscar Bruce looked to get involved in the action at all times. Withycombe’s excellent defence and well worked tries ultimately made the different between the two sides.

Thanks must go to the Withycombe coaches and players for the excellent spirit the games were played in.