Honiton 2nd XV were excellent value for a 43-29 victory over Tiverton Athletic at Allhallows, writes Phil Bird.

When the sides met earlier in the campaign, Honiton managed to claim an unexpected win in the final minutes of the game.

Unfortunately, Tiverton only travelled with 13 players, which they must be credited for, as many teams wouldn’t have bothered, and so Honiton provided the services of Tom Churchward and Alex Ashby, so a 13 a-side game with uncontested scrums could be played.

Tiverton, playing down the slope, began well and the Lacemen found themselves two tries down after only 10 minutes.

After a stern few words from captain Ben Welch, the home side got to grips with the contest. Welch, typically leading by example, put in a trademark tackle to bag turnover ball that resulted in Jack Katene crossing for a try he then converted.

A second home try followed as Elliot Perret marked his first start in a Honiton shirt after a few months of absence, and another Katene conversion saw the Lacemen into the lead for the first time.

Two further tries followed before the break, the first scored by Chris Sampson and the second was scored by Katene after some good work from the centre pairing of Dom Hawke and Wes Keywood.

The second half began with the Lacemen leading 22-12 and, for the first 20 minutes of the half, home skipper Welch wore the Tivvy colours – swapping with Churchward.

It was Honiton who remained the dominant force and number eight Mike Boraston bagged a quick-fire brace, one of which was converted by Keywood.

That was followed by a Sam Heathcote try that came after a terrific break from Katene.

Honiton then seemed to take their foot off the gas and this allowed Tiverton to come back into the game. With the pace of Dave Wellington coming to the fore, the Mid Devon men scored a couple of tries.

However, the Lacemen ended the game well with Perrett scoring Honiton’s final points, before the visitor had the final say with a slick try scored from what had been an excellent cross-field kick.