Sidmouth Under-11s took to the pitch for their first taste of action in the new season when they faced Honiton.

Sidmouth had an excellent turnout with 17 youngsters set for action and, after a quick warm-up, they were split into two teams to play a series of 10-minutes-per-match fixtures.

One of the Sidmouth coaches remarked: “The first foray of a new season is generally tricky. We do like to keep mixing up the kids and don’t set out any positions. The kids did a great job of adjusting and finding their feet.”

The first game saw the home side take the honours, the Sidmouth cause not helped by a couple of missed tackles and a cavalier attitude to passing!

Game two saw Honiton, who were only able to field one side, clearly warmed-up, in terms of their approach to the action, but, once they grew into the game, the Sidmouth youngsters took control and went on to win the contest.

Game three went the way of the home side, with wayward kicking contributing to the Sidmouth downfall. Game four saw the hosts beginning to tire and the Sidmouth youngsters took full advantage.

So, overall, honours were shared. For Sidmouth, notable performances came from: Tilly Bennett, with a great show of strength, scoring a try; Noah Clifton, catching the kick off and jinking through to score immediately; a great tap tackle from Lucas Vicary; and superb defence from Jerry Min and Henry Tanner, holding up a maul to secure a turnover.

There were also some great tackles from Jude Horrocks and Will Cotton and a turned over ruck by Leah Patch amongst a very good first morning of action for the Under-11s.