Sidmouth u-15s travelled to Sandy Park to take on Exeter Chiefs on Sunday, keen to get back to winning ways following the defeat two weeks earlier. Last weekend, the coaches decided that Sidmouth would need to learn from their mistakes, to get back on th

Sidmouth u-15s travelled to Sandy Park to take on Exeter Chiefs on Sunday, keen to get back to winning ways following the defeat two weeks earlier.

Last weekend, the coaches decided that Sidmouth would need to learn from their mistakes, to get back on the front foo,t and so organised a match analysis session in which a video of the defeat was watched by all the players present and key points picked out.

The players and spectators observed an impeccable one minute's silence to respect Remembrance Day.

Sidmouth kicked off with the wind to their backs and the advantage of a slight slope. Sidmouth were under some pressure from a keen Chiefs' side as a few simple handling mistakes were made. However, five minutes into the game, fly half Harry Shayler used his initiative, improvising slightly on a dummy move called by the Sidmouth backs to put winger and captain Finn Cawthera in at the corner for an early try.

Gavin Pearson made his presence felt, returning the Chiefs' kick-off, taking the ball well and bringing it up strongly.

Chiefs found themselves defending their try line against a five meter scrum. The front five of the Sidmouth pack got the edge, allowing Mike Bond at number 8 to pick up and go blind to give scrum half Theo Boalch enough space to get a try for himself.

Shortly after the next kick- off, Sidmouth managed to force a penalty from which the backs ran several moves to work their way down the pitch, finally using a kick to get them down into the Chiefs' 22.

From here the Sidmouth forwards rucked hard and, on a final ruck at the five meter line, Ben Stokes and Tom Reed turned the ball over, giving Johnny Youngman the chance to score a long-awaited but well deserved try. This brought the score up to 15-0, but, due to the difficult conditions, none of the tries throughout the game was converted.

After some more general play, Harry Shayler put in a long-range kick with the wind pushing Sidmouth well into the Chiefs' half.

Connor Male threw in well to the lineout, making light of the swirling winds, and the Sidmouth pack fought hard to get good ball out to the backs, creating a period of sustained pressure.

After a number of phases, the Sidmouth back line span it out to centre James Bramley, looping round Finn Cawthera, stepping back inside and scoring the fourth try of the game.

Some strong runs from forwards Jack Sowden, Gavin Pearson and Sam Loader put Chiefs under pressure but they managed to break out, nearly reaching the Sidmouth try line but being brought down on the five meter line. This was followed by a Sidmouth scrum.

A fine kick by Jay Pearson and a hard chase plus good defensive work by Ben Stokes put Sidmouth back down the other end of the pitch. 20-0 at half time.

A fired-up Exeter Chiefs' side began the second half strongly. Some fine tackling from Oli Tollerfield and James Bramley forced a line-out near the half- way line. A fine take by Gavin Pearson re-gained the ball for Sidmouth and a good box kick by Chris Aplin put Sidmouth back on the front foot.

However, Chiefs ran the ball strongly out of defence and, despite strong tackling from Olly Blyth, more handling errors and poor tackling from the rest of the team allowed the Chiefs' full back to score a converted try, to make it 20-7.

The Sidmouth kick-off did not go 10 meters and so a scrum to Chiefs was called. However, hard scrimmaging from Will Oswald and the Sidmouth pack caused a turn over. Good handling put Oli Tollerfield in space to use his speed to push the Chiefs well back into their half and set up a ruck to give Sam Loader some space from which he scored a solo try with an arcing run from the 22. The score: 25-7.

A slicing run by Andy Watson put Chiefs back into their own half, creating a long drawn out maul until a break in play was called for an injury.

Sidmouth found themselves under pressure until good tackling and an excellent turn over by Theo Boalch led to a long kick downfield by Olly Blyth. A determined chase by Oli Tollerfield created several phases of play, resulting in Jack Sowden's powerful run to score the final try of the game, making the scoreline 30-7.

Chiefs kicked off with the wind but the ball was returned robustly by Mike Bond and Andy Watson. Theo Boalch, playing an excellent game, carried the ball forward but was cut down by a high tackle, unfortunately sustaining a fractured collarbone.

This was the final play of the game as the referee ended this hard fought game.