Having suffered a first loss of the season against Crediton the previous week the Quins travelled to Kingsteignton to face New Cross with the aim of getting back to winning ways last Saturday. However, whilst the Crediton game was an advert for the quality of rugby being played in the Counties 3 division Saturday’s match in the midsts of Storm Bert was no so such spectacle as Sidmouth came unstuck in the mud.
There was some surprise amongst the travelling players and supporters that the game was on given the weather conditions, however, one look at the size of the opposition on arrival gave a very clear indication of why New Cross were keen to play in wet, soggy and windy conditions – they were absolutely massive!
And so it went that whilst the pitch held up admirably and the rain was persistently heavy rather than torrential, it was the wind that made any attempt to pass the ball almost impossible. For the hosts this made little difference as they rarely went beyond their impressive scrum half feeding a rotating array of big lads on hard straight running lines, it was a complete anathema to Sidmouth’s flowing running style.
Into the wind the Quins coped admirably with New Cross only scoring a single unconverted try in the first period as Sidmouth repelled wave after wave of attack Man of the Match, Alfie Collins, was to the fore throughout ably assisted by Jake Paget and Olly Marsh in the back row.
The first half was not without its moments for the Quins and some fine sniping work from Alex Clemo-Crosby at scrum half set Adam Howe off down the left wing. Some quickly recycled ball saw returning skipper James Docherty feed Fin Lashbrook but the fullback was hauled down short of the line.
When the wind died on the odd occasion in the first half Sidmouth managed to put some phases together with Jack Hembrow and Tom Price in the centre being willing runners all afternoon. However the inability to put sufficient width on the passes allowed New Cross the ability to relentlessly shut down every opportunity.
The quins scrum, after an inauspicious start, had a fine day against probably the biggest pack in the league. Chris Otway, Harry Backway and Ned Coles in he front row with Tom Butler and Will Cockayne-Cottrell in the second row held their own, and when Backway left the field first Isaac Lidster and then Charlie Farrington-Smith kept up the good work.
As the teams turned around at half time Sidmouth justifiably felt good about their position, just 5-0 down and with the wind at their backs it should have been theirs for the taking. However, New Cross to their credit presented a significant problem to that hypothesis as they simply refused to allow Sidmouth to have the ball.
When opportunities did arrive they generally came from penalties at the breakdown, although there was a significant argument that additional leniency due to the conditions saw a multitude of high tackles (under the new rules) go unpunished. But having lost Backway in the first half and combined with increasingly horrendous conditions the Sidmouth lineout for the first time this season failed to function in the second half and the few opportunities that were had were lost.
New Cross took a well-deserved 10-0 lead with 15 minutes to go and despite the best efforts of Kyle Baker, Ryan Davies and Charles Edwards off the bench the tide could not be turned. Price and Ollie Hansford-Harvey almost created something from nothing in the final 10 minutes but a dubious tackle and one roll of the ball too many into touch put pay to those.
The Quins luck in this match was best summed up when Docherty lined up a penalty kick to take a bonus point, only to lose his standing leg and end up on his backside with the ball scuttling along the floor.
Whilst the defeat will come as a huge disappointment the manner in which this team, made up primarily of lads aged 23 and under, applied themselves in a match against a team built for these conditions, who were hugely impressive in the execution of their simple but effective gameplan, says a huge amount about the character of this side. In awful conditions they fronted up manfully and were unfortunate to come away empty handed.
Next week sees the Quins head off to Cullompton where we hope that drier, and less windy, conditions will await – along with a return to winning ways.
Sidmouth II: Ned Coles, Harry Backway (Isaac Lidster (Charlie Farrington-Smith)), Chris Otway, Will Cockayne-Cottrell, Tom Butler (Ryan Davies), Alfie Collins, Jake Paget (Kyle Baker), Ollie Marsh, Alex Clemo-Crosby (Charles Edwards), James Docherty (c), Sam Adam Howe, Jack Hembrow, Tom Price, Ollie Hansford-Harvey, Fin Lashbrook
Man of the Match: Alfie Collins
There was some surprise amongst the travelling players and supporters that the game was on given the weather conditions, however, one look at the size of the opposition on arrival gave a very clear indication of why New Cross were keen to play in wet, soggy and windy conditions – they were absolutely massive!
And so it went that whilst the pitch held up admirably and the rain was persistently heavy rather than torrential, it was the wind that made any attempt to pass the ball almost impossible. For the hosts this made little difference as they rarely went beyond their impressive scrum half feeding a rotating array of big lads on hard straight running lines, it was a complete anathema to Sidmouth’s flowing running style.
Into the wind the Quins coped admirably with New Cross only scoring a single unconverted try in the first period as Sidmouth repelled wave after wave of attack Man of the Match, Alfie Collins, was to the fore throughout ably assisted by Jake Paget and Olly Marsh in the back row.
The first half was not without its moments for the Quins and some fine sniping work from Alex Clemo-Crosby at scrum half set Adam Howe off down the left wing. Some quickly recycled ball saw returning skipper James Docherty feed Fin Lashbrook but the fullback was hauled down short of the line.
When the wind died on the odd occasion in the first half Sidmouth managed to put some phases together with Jack Hembrow and Tom Price in the centre being willing runners all afternoon. However the inability to put sufficient width on the passes allowed New Cross the ability to relentlessly shut down every opportunity.
The quins scrum, after an inauspicious start, had a fine day against probably the biggest pack in the league. Chris Otway, Harry Backway and Ned Coles in he front row with Tom Butler and Will Cockayne-Cottrell in the second row held their own, and when Backway left the field first Isaac Lidster and then Charlie Farrington-Smith kept up the good work.
As the teams turned around at half time Sidmouth justifiably felt good about their position, just 5-0 down and with the wind at their backs it should have been theirs for the taking. However, New Cross to their credit presented a significant problem to that hypothesis as they simply refused to allow Sidmouth to have the ball.
When opportunities did arrive they generally came from penalties at the breakdown, although there was a significant argument that additional leniency due to the conditions saw a multitude of high tackles (under the new rules) go unpunished. But having lost Backway in the first half and combined with increasingly horrendous conditions the Sidmouth lineout for the first time this season failed to function in the second half and the few opportunities that were had were lost.
New Cross took a well-deserved 10-0 lead with 15 minutes to go and despite the best efforts of Kyle Baker, Ryan Davies and Charles Edwards off the bench the tide could not be turned. Price and Ollie Hansford-Harvey almost created something from nothing in the final 10 minutes but a dubious tackle and one roll of the ball too many into touch put pay to those.
The Quins luck in this match was best summed up when Docherty lined up a penalty kick to take a bonus point, only to lose his standing leg and end up on his backside with the ball scuttling along the floor.
Whilst the defeat will come as a huge disappointment the manner in which this team, made up primarily of lads aged 23 and under, applied themselves in a match against a team built for these conditions, who were hugely impressive in the execution of their simple but effective gameplan, says a huge amount about the character of this side. In awful conditions they fronted up manfully and were unfortunate to come away empty handed.
Next week sees the Quins head off to Cullompton where we hope that drier, and less windy, conditions will await – along with a return to winning ways.
Sidmouth II: Ned Coles, Harry Backway (Isaac Lidster (Charlie Farrington-Smith)), Chris Otway, Will Cockayne-Cottrell, Tom Butler (Ryan Davies), Alfie Collins, Jake Paget (Kyle Baker), Ollie Marsh, Alex Clemo-Crosby (Charles Edwards), James Docherty (c), Sam Adam Howe, Jack Hembrow, Tom Price, Ollie Hansford-Harvey, Fin Lashbrook
Man of the Match: Alfie Collins
