Solitary try sends Honiton Seconds home disappointed

HONITON Seconds travelled to Teignmouth for their league fixture and were rather disappointed to come away without any points.

HONITON Seconds travelled to Teignmouth for their league fixture and were rather disappointed to come away without any points.

It was a very evenly contested encounter and, maybe because of the conditions underfoot, the deciding factor was a solitary try scored by the home side just before the half time break.

Honiton did, however, have the upper hand in the scrums but were unable to capitalise on this strength.

Honiton's ranks were disrupted early on in the second half when Nathan Spence had to leave the field with a broken thumb but, despite this disruption, the half remained scoreless.

Despite the lack of tries and penalties, it was an entertaining game. The backrow combination of Wilson, Lane and Daniel worked hard as a unit, winning the battle with their opposite numbers.

There was also a mention for Young colt Lee "Pieface" Clark who travelled with the side at short notice and put in a sterling performance.

Captain Nuttall was very pleased with his team's efforts but said he had to single out Micky Salter who, on his return to playing after his shooting season brea,k was very impressive in both defence and attack.

Juniors: Home games on Saturday and Sunday were a real no-no given the saturated pitches and the Thirds, Colts and most junior games fell victim to the conditions.

There were, however, two games that did go ahead and this was because both were played down at Exeter Chiefs artificial "crumble" pitch. The under-12s' manager's first comments started with that well known phrase of "we were robbed". His side went down by three converted tries to nil, but the 21-0 scoreline did not reflect the general play in what was an even encounter.

Honiton did actually cross the opposition's try line three times, only to be denied by the referee's decision.

Despite this disappointment, it was a good game with Kye Brooks and Liam Crawford doing well in defence. Man-of-the-Match, however, went to Dion Warner who really gave it his all throughout.

The under-11s run of good form hit the buffers as they went down by 24-14 on the Chiefs' crumble pitch. It was a close run affair, and into the break, Honiton lead by a converted score to a try. Charlie Wright touched down and converted for Honiton.

Exeter were quickest out of the blocks in the second half and then took the lead. Wright scored his second, but Exeter pulled away and scored three further tries to seal the result.

Despite the score, and maybe a few dubious decisions, the Lacemen played well and Harry Boswell was singled out for his defensive efforts.

The winner on the day was this fantastic pitch and wouldn't it be great to have one of these at each club, so if any one has a spare 50k to spare please get in touch with Honiton Rugby Football Club and they will try and accommodate one!

Following a successful trial on Sunday, Honiton's Robert Price has received a Devon call up for the under-18 squad.

He will be playing against Cornwall in next weekend game.