It was with a sense of relief that I felt when I was informed, about three months ago, that I would no longer have to write Honiton RFC match reports, writes Nick Guilbert.

Rice senior was to take over and I could relax on a Sunday! However, given that JR has gone on holiday, I’m back in the fold. Let’s get through this together.

Honiton wrestled to a 19-3 win over Plymouth side OPM on Saturday at Allhallows. A dogged second half defensive performance saw the Lacemen come through, with a late try from yours truly to seal the deal.

The Lacemen lost the toss and played down the slope in the first half and looked dangerous from the outset. The home crowd were treated to several new faces representing the town as several youngsters were blooded, alongside recent addition Goulden. The tight head was at the forefront of a solid scrummaging performance, and with the lineout functioning reasonably Honiton were able to gather decent amounts of possession. Whilst Honiton are not as potent in the loose as they were last season, they showed good composure not to cough the ball up cheaply when in scoring positions. Webber put Honiton six ahead with two well taken penalties before OPM kicked deep into Lacemen territory.

A decent lineout saw Honiton win possession and creep towards the twenty two. A quick dart from the forwards put OPM on the back foot and Honiton romped down field through Rice, Coutts and Webber. Decent recycling saw play quickly transcend deep into OPM territory. Eventually the forwards took over as the line beckond. Goulden broke the white wash for a well taken score.

Webber bizzarely failed with extras given his recent form. Honiton went in 11 or 14 up. I don’texactly remember.

OPM were huge up front, and they used their imposing pack to establish a platform in the bottom half of the field for the majority of the third quarter. Honiton couldn’t really escape and their decision making was often poor. However the home defence stood very strong, and dealt well with the confrontational nature of the away side.

OPM did milk three points, when surely they should have kicked to the corner. Honiton were scrambling and were caught in an arm wrestle they didn’t want to be in. They didn’t play with enough depth to play a wide game they needed to. As it was, they began to draw and give, and with the scrum providing possession they moved upfield inside the last ten.

They broke up the left hand channel and from a ruck on the left hand five yard channel ten yards out, Guilbert spotted the chance to break down the blind. He did so and crossed in the corner to wrap up the game. Interestingly Honiton played with a lot more freedom in the knowledge the game was one and nearly grabbed a third at the death, only for the game to be finished short with a high tackle on house, which strangely didn’t yield a penalty. So now it’s a case of onwards and upwards, with (Paignton away this Saturday (September 20).