Honiton Under-12s were very impressive in the way that they took on, and saw off, both Exmouth and Sidmouth, recording 5-0 and 15-0 victories.

First up they took on what looked a strong and powerful Exmouth side with the match played on a heavy surface.

Exmouth were highly competitive at the breakdown and the Honiton pack worked tirelessly for parity in this facet of the game. Despite the conditions, Honiton still looked to impose their running game. Fly half Edward Grimshaw was involved in a number of slick forays forward, taking the ball to the line before unleashing the dangerous James Harris and Yannick Barrett with some neat offloads.

With such endeavour Honiton always looked the most likely to score and this proved to be the case as the Lacelads camped themselves within the Exmouth twenty-two late in the second half.

Several phases ended with Arthur Hattan and Luke Matthews breaking the game line before Yannick Barrett powered over for the only try of the game to seal a deserved, if narrow 5-0 success.

In their second match the young Lacelads met Sidmouth, and, with local pride at stake, produced an intelligent performance, to overcome the visitors, and the conditions.

Once again the Lacelads pack provided the platform, allowing scrum half Joe Evans, and fullback Tim Goody to employ their superior kicking game.

This allowed Honiton to once again control the territory as they played the majority of the rugby in the Sidmouth half.

Eventually this sustained pressure told as James Harris once again provided the platform with a powerful break.

The supporting Felix Williams shipped the ball to Yannick Barrett, who produced a Fijian-esque finish, planting the ball down with just one hand on the ball!

The first try was swiftly followed by two more. First up, skipper Isaac Stanbury was rewarded for his sterling efforts with a try after a typical mighty carry. Then Tim Goody showed some superb footwork to avoid both the touchline and the Sidmouth defence to complete the scoring.

To keep two strong teams to nil was particularly pleasing, and it says a lot about the synergy of the Honiton side, and defensively it was an outstanding performance. The Man of the Match award went to centre James Harris who provided the cutting edge throughout the morning’s action from midfield.