Mighty Matthews as Honiton Under-12 put hosts Bridport to the sword

Honiton Under-12s were 45-10 winners when they travelled to Bridport for their latest match, writes Daniel Evans.

What made the success all the more admirable was the young Lacemen made the journey to Dorset missing several players and they also came up against a physical Bridport team intent on exacting revenge for a heavy defeat to the Lacelads last year!

Honiton kept possession from the kick-off, going through the phases until the ball was offloaded to Isaac Stanbury 20 meters out, and he sprinted in to score the opening try under the posts.

That was the start of some delightful rugby, particularly in the backs, with the whole team chipping in at some stage.

Slick hands through Felix Robinson and James Harris, got regular ball to fleet-footed wingers Billy Tarr and Tim Goody who ran in two tries apiece before the break.

Luke Matthews orchestrated much of the positive Honiton play with his strong running, aggression and quick-thinking handing off. Matthews came close to scoring himself before unselfishly offloading to Arthur Hatton, who, alongside Angus Stride had another fantastic game in the loose. Joe Evans at scrum half, once again provided a pivotal link between forwards and backs, scoring one of his own and putting Edward Grimshaw in for a typically barnstorming try out wide.

Drew Hamilton, Felix Williams and Josh Giles were strong in defence, showing some of the others the art of tackling low and hard. Bridport scored two consolation tries late on, but it was a performance dominated by Honiton and in particular Luke Matthews who deservedly landed the Man of the Match award.