Rugby round-up from the East Devon region

Keen to follow up their overdue victory at Royal Wotton Bassett seven days before, the Cockles confirmed their fifth place in the table with another important result that was in doubt right up to the final whistle.

Nick Headley's fourth-minute try got Exmouth going, with George Meadows' boot helping to produce a 10-10 scoreline at half-time.

Toby Papp crossed for a converted try in the second half, but Bournemouth still led 22-20 until the last minute.

Then, a powerful forward drive set up field position, and Meadows' run and offload sent Cave in to score next to the posts. Meadows made no mistake with the kick.

The Cockles take a short break until travelling to Brixham on Saturday week (Feb 12).

Sidmouth are on a roll, beating Wellington 34-21 at Blackmore for a fourth successive South West One win.

The scoreline - Tom Hodge was voted man of the match - would have been more emphatic without two Wellington tries near the end.

Sidmouth travel to Lydney (4th) this Saturday.

A try by skipper Liam Cullen was all Withycombe had to show for a tough afternoon at Tavistock in Cornwall/Devon Division.

Mid-table Withies hoped to be rested after 'walking over' Hayle the weekend before, but after trailing only 10-0 at the interval, they ended up losing 43-7.

Second-placed Topsham (75pts) kept up the pressure on Pirates Amateurs (76), winning 40-30 at Saltash with Henry Batty (3), Ross Bovingdon, Calum Murdoch and Will Loughton all scoring tries.

Only six points cover Pirates, Topsham, Bude and Cullompton in fourth place, and there are some key games still to come.

Saturday is another 'blank' for Topsham, but Withycombe, whose Ladies cheered everyone at Raleigh Park up with a 62-17 friendly win over a combined Chard/Teignmouth team, travel to Plymstock Albion Oaks.

Oli Cave wins it for the Cockles (Image: Exmouth RFC)