Latest Match Reports

Confidence boosting performance against Barnstaple (30/08/10)

SIDMOUTH 31pts v BARNSTAPLE 36pts

This was another encouraging performance by the Sidmouth squad, although they will be regretting a lacklustre start, which possibly cost them victory against their one-league-higher opponents. Under the new points scoring system this result would have earned them two league points; one for scoring four tries and one for a losing margin of seven points or less.

As is usual in these warm up matches, both sides had large squads and substitutions were made at regular intervals. Despite this the Sidmouth players showed better cohesion , and made fewer mistakes, than in the Wellington game. Once again, the backrow were to the fore, despite the absence of Ollie Pyne. Also the backs had a cutting edge, with Tom Hodge showing up particularly well. He formed a promising partnership with strong running Andrew Dare in the centre.

The Sidmouth forwards failed to gather the Barnstaple kick off and immediately found themselves under pressure inside their own 22. After three minutes the visitors earned a five metre scrum from which the scrum half forced his way over to open the scoring. The try was unconverted.

Barum were soon back on the attack and increased their lead with a try by the forwards from a lineout catch-and-drive play. The successful conversion opened up a 12 point lead with less than ten minutes played.

At last the Sidmouth players woke up and kept Barnstaple pinned inside their own half for the remainder of the first quarter. Strong running by Andrew Dare, Sam Richardson and Jack Pyne kept the visitors on the back foot. It was a move initiated by Pyne which led to Sidmouth’s first try. He picked up a dropped Barnstaple pass on halfway to start a handling move in which he and Tom Hodge appeared twice before the latter touched down in the left corner. Dan Retter added the conversion and a few minutes later rewarded further pressure with a penalty to close the gap to two points.

Barnstaple dominated to remainder of the half, scoring three tries in the final six minutes to open up a commanding lead. The left winger scored twice, first joining the line to cut through the centre and touch down under the posts, then diving over in the corner after a series of rucks near the line. The full back made the extra man to score on the right on the stroke of halftime. Two of the tries were converted to make the score 10-31 at the break.

The tables were turned after the break as Sidmouth dominated to cut the lead to seven points with two converted tries. Following a lineout on the Barnstaple ten metre line, Dan Pollington made a half break at outside centre which created room for Scott Davies down the right touchline. The wingers inside pass found Tom Whelan, who finished the move off. Retter added the conversion.

The forwards took the credit for try number three as they drove to the line through a series of rucks for Nick Mills to get the touchdown. Again Retter converted.

Tom Hodge showed his defensive qualities with a try saving cover tackle on the Barum right winger a couple of metres short of the line. However, the visitors retained the attacking position and, with the Sidmouth scrum coming under increasing pressure, the Sidmouth defence was given a thorough examination. They held out well for a long period, but eventually conceded a pushover try after a series of five metres scrums.

Showing good fighting spirit, Sidmouth finished strongly to score their fourth try in injury time. Once again it was the pack which did the donkey work, keeping possession through several phases, before Dan Retter dummied his way over near the posts. His conversion made the final score 31-36.

Terry O'Brien (Report ID No. 313)

Encouraging signs in warm up game against Wellington (22/08/10)

SIDMOUTH 17pts v WELLINGTON 7pts

New coach Max Hansford will have been pleased with this first run out of the season, in which the Sidmouth squad had the initiative for long spells, and showed great collective determination when asked to defend. The scoreline might have been bigger had the referee not been unsighted on a couple of occasions.

The match was played in four quarters, with both sides trying out different combinations from squads of about 30 players. With so many changes, play understandably lacked cohesion at times, and Sidmouth will be concerned about their scrum, which was often under pressure. However, they held the initiative for long periods thanks to the powerful running of their backrow, where there will be much competition for places. Ollie Pyne, Sam Richardson, Dan Trim and Ollie Derryman all made big dents in the Wellington defence, While Stuart Bickerstaff showed hints of his talent after more than a year out due to injury. With such strength in depth Rhys Thomas was being tried out at hooker, which added to the mobility and ball winning ability of the pack.

Most of the first quarter was played in the Wellington half with Sidmouth dominating the breakdown to deny the visitors possession. However, inaccurate handling and two forward pass decisions prevented them from taking the lead. The second of these came at the end of splendid handling move which outflanked the defence. Then, in the twentieth minute, Wellington looked certain to score against the run of play thanks to an interception on their 22. However, Chris Higgs covered back to bring off a try saving tackle just short of the line. Urgent support from four other players prevented the visitors from developing the situation and the quarter ended scoreless.

Continued Sidmouth pressure from the restart was eventually rewarded when possession from the back of a lineout inside the Wellington 22 saw the ball transferred to Tom Whelan at fly half. His well angled run took him through the defence to touch down near the posts. He also added the conversion.

Minutes later Ollie Pyne burst out his own half with a powerful run before finding Tom Hodge in support to put the finishing touch for an unconverted try.

A series of penalties enabled Wellington to kick their way into the Sidmouth 22, where they earned a 5 metre scrum. They pushed it to the line for the number 8 to dive over a try which was converted by the scrum half.

At the start of the third quarter Tom Hodge seemed to have scored a second try following a lineout close to the Wellington line but the referee decided that he had lost the ball before applying downward pressure. The visitors then had their best spell of the game during which they pressured the Sidmouth line for 10 minutes. The home defenders tackled determinedly, and showed good discipline to keep their line intact. They eventually broke out to finish the session on the attack but did not add to their score.

Sidmouth increased their lead at the start of the final quarter with the best move of the game. They turned over the ball at a ruck inside their own 22 and moved the ball left to exploit an overlap. Tristan Beavis made the initial break to take play into the opposition half. New centre Simon Takapi kept the move going before timing his pass well for Chris Higgs to finish the move off. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Sidmouth continued to dominate and, in the dying minutes, Dan Trim drove over from close range, but a pile of players left the referee unable to judge whether he had touched the ball down.

Terry O'Brien (Report ID No. 312)