Honiton RFC ignored a mild injury crisis to secure an excellent 14-3 win over Withycombe in a tight local derby, writes Justin Nuttall.

Ben Phillips slotted a penalty to give the Ton a 0-3 lead after ten minutes and Honiton got the first try of the game when Dom Bernhardt intercepted and fed the supporting Jake Johnson, who scored on the right, Ben Phillips hit the post with his conversion attempt, 0-8.

Sam Olive was yellow carded for a high tackle and Withycombe got on the scoreboard with a penalty 3-8 after ten minutes of the second half.

When Honiton were back to full strength, they moved the ball downfield and were awarded a penalty which Ben Phillips added to increase the Honiton lead to 3-11.

Another Honiton yellow card, this time for Will Lancaster, reduced the Ton to fourteen again with fifteen minutes remaining but they held on for a deserved victory.