A weakened Chiefs team were convincingly beaten 38-20 at Truro despite staging a spirited second half performance, writes Terry O’Brien.

In the first half, the home fly half and full back exposed the defensive frailties of a Sidmouth back line consisting of five wingers to build up a 28 point lead before the Chiefs troubled the scoreboard.

Truro kicked off in perfect conditions and were soon on the attack. The Chiefs defended well against the early pressure before a turnover enabled them to clear the danger.

However, Truro were soon back on the attack and, when they bagan to move the ball wide, the cracks in the Sidmouth defence began to be exposed.

They opened the scoring after eight minutes, when they worked an overlap for the right winger to run over in the corner. The fly half kicked the first of four first half conversions.

The Chiefs had their moments but problems in the lineout and lack of cohesion prevented them from sustaining attacking positions.

Truro increased their lead midway through the half when the fly half broke clear before sending the full back sprinting in. As he touched down, Charlie Cotton was judged to tackled him dangerously and was sent to the sin bin.

As the 10 minute penalty was coming to an end, the full back ran in a second try on the end of a counter-attack resulting from a missed touch kick.

The right winger recorded his second touch down, when he chased a well-judged diagonal kick by the fly half.

The Chiefs eventually opened their account two minutes before the break thanks to a Dan Retter penalty to make the half time score 3-28.

The introduction of Christian Goddard at scrum half seemed to spark life into the Chiefs cause and they went on the attack straight from the restart kick.

Breaks from Goddard and Dan Retter were well supported by the forwards to ask questions of the home defence for the first time.

A superb handling move by the backs sent Sam Meadham sprinting down the left touchline. He was eventually brought down five metres from the line, where Truro were penalised at the resulting ruck. A quick tap penalty enabled Christian Goddard to dart over from close range. The try was unconverted.

The celebrations were short-lived until the Chiefs dropped the ball behind their own line and a Truro forward was first to react to get the touch down for an unconverted try.

Another sparkling handling move by the Sidmouth backs sent Luke Wells-Burr sprinting into the opposing 22. And, when Truro missed touch with a clearance kick, Wells-Burr fielded the ball to start a counterattack for Chris Higgs to send Sam Meadham on a jinking run to the posts. Dan Retter added the conversion.

In the last minute of normal time, Christian Goddard broke on the blindside of a scrum inside the Truro 22 before sending Charlie Cotton over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Truro regained possession from the restart kick and progressed the ball through several phases before a forward forced his way over from a ruck near the line. The unsuccessful conversion attempt was followed by the final whistle.

On Boxing Day, the Blackmore Field is the stage for the annual Chiefs versus President’s XV match. The kick off is at 2.30pm.