Honiton despatch Sidmouth with confidence

Honiton second XV were confident and commanding across the pitch as they won a derby meeting with Sidmouth 41-10, writes Tom Churchward.

The Lacemen kicked off playing down the slope. In recent outings the team have made sluggish starts, but an early infringement by the Sidmouth pack led to the ball being kicked down to clubhouse corner, and, from the resulting lineout, which was superb all day, the ball went out to the centres with Alex Davies crossing over for an unconverted try.

Honiton used this early momentum to push on, and some good phase play by the forwards allowed the backs to run into space, and it was Stef ‘Lawrence’ Archer who crossed over and converted his own try.

Honiton had the majority of possession in the first half, and from a restart, the ball found its way to Andy Canniford who showed good footwork to cross over for the third try of game. Before the half was up Honiton scored a further two tries with both coming from a solid foundation from the pack and good hands from the backs to allow both wingers to cross over, Joe Keep getting one and Ben Welsh the other. The latter scoring his first try for the club in only his second ever game of rugby! The Lacemen took a 27-0 lead into the break.

In the second half, playing up the slope, Honiton kicked off, but found Sidmouth the brighter of the teams and, after some good sustained pressure, they crossed over for their first try of the game. Honiton were stung by this and quickly got bal back in hand and Ross Oaten ran in for the next try before slotting the conversion.

The remainder of the contest was even-steven, with Sidmouth, at times, controlling things. This showed when their winger Olly Rice, on loan for the second half, beat several men to cross over. However, it was the Laceman who had the final word when Ben Kidson, like Oaten one of the Honiton colts, crossed for a try in the final play of the game.

The last score of the game was the conversion, slotted by a young and up-and-coming fly half called Nick Guilbert – one surely to watch out for in the future!

A good solid team performance all round, and special praise must go the Davies’ brothers who both had a real impact. This weekend Honiton seconds travel to Teignmouth.