Second team report.
Following all the recent rain, this Devon second team cup semi-final happened on the 3g at Keyham.
Brixham II are top of the league below us.
Injuries in the first team have taken a couple of players from us.
On a good sunny afternoon without a breeze, Brixham II looked really good in their warm up, flawless passing and taking, good lineouts and generally bigger than us.
We are going to be in trouble here, I thought.
In the first twenty-five minutes, it seemed as if my fears were going to come true. We were poor.
They kicked off to us and held us in our twenty-two for a couple of minutes, then a pass that landed ten feet away from any player seemed to sit there, none of our players reacted, they reacted quickly, picked it up and scored under the crossbar, the simple conversion went over, and we were 0~7 down all within three minutes.
They were cock-a-hoop, their twenty-five or so supporters were cheering as if they had won the World Cup, and the players were just as overjoyed.
I expect they were fearful that the league difference would make it difficult for them to win. As it was the start really fired them up, and they and their supporters continued to noisily cheer every success for the rest of the half.
From the restart we started a move, Leighton Stark did a chip through to the right wing, Sam, Fincham picked it up under pressure and just inside our half and close to the side line, He slipped away from the Brixham player also tying to get the ball, and set off handing off at least two attempts to stop him and to score out wide.
The conversion looked like it was going to go over, but curved away at the last moment and missed the far post. 5~7.
That raised our spirits a touch.
On ten minutes, they won a penalty midfield and not far out, it went over easily, and they were 5~10 up.
Then on twenty minutes, they won a short lineout halfway across our twenty-two, the catcher didn’t even have to jump, the ball sped along the fine to the right winger who ran in to score in the bijou clubhouse corner with the conversion going over. 5~17.
For the next twenty minutes, the best you could say of us was that we tackled well.
Twice, I think, we got close to their line only for the last pass to fail.
We were not attacking well, and they were defending well, and they appeared to really want it more than we did.
Closing in on half time, we attacked with Sam Fincham making a break down the middle, making good ground, sent to Charlie Over who made it to the line, I didn’t think the conversion had gone over but the line judges and referee said it did. 12~17.
Five minutes before the break, Toby Moss went down heavily on the side line from a tackle, lying on his side. I thought he had damaged his shoulder and feared the worst, but then he rolled over, poor chap, “It’s my nuts”, he said groaning. There was little our physio Katie could do for him, but she did smile sympathetically. It took him a minute to get up, and to his credit, he carried on to score two tries.
Right on halftime we were attacking when a long pass was intercepted and they ran it in to score under the crossbar, with an easy conversion, the score for the half ended on 12~24.

We started the second half with a great deal more conviction; we started to play in the manner of a team one league above.
We started with a Josh Martin try at the clubhouse end, street side. It started with Sam Fincham making ground down the middle, then to Ethan Millard, who got into their twenty-two street side, to pass to Josh Martin, who scored under the pressure of a couple of defenders. The conversion missed. 17~24.
Then Toby Moss scored a couple of minutes later, following a strong break down the middle by Aiden Taylor in his first game back from injury. With a conversion by Leighton Stark, the scores were now level at 24~24.
It was clear that Brixham were now really on the back foot, with us playing much more as we normally do.
From the restart, we scored again out wide when Sam Fincham went in for his second try. The conversion missed, 29~24.
Toby Moss scored his second after Brixham got deep into our twenty-two but were penalised near the sideline about twelve feet out. Charlie Over, I think, took a quick tap and set off angling in to the middle to give it to Toby Moss, who ran in for his score. The Leighton Stark conversion went over. 36~24.
Sam Fincham scored his third try from the restart, Toby Moss started the ball running, and Sam Fincham ended it with the try. He seems to have a good knack for slipping the attention of defenders. The conversion missed. 41~36.

With about fifteen minutes to go, that was it for Brixham in terms of winning; the sands of time had run out for them, but it was not the end of their scoring.
From a five-yard lineout to them well into our twenty-two, they took the ball and very slickly put it along to the right wing to go over halfway in from the sideline. The conversion again went over. 41~31.
Closing in on the end, Charlie Over scored his second after a strong run down the middle by Taine Morgan. The conversion missed. 46~31.
Then, to end the afternoon, Al Thomas had a crowd-pleasing solo run from outside their twenty-two to score under the crossbar, Leighton Stark converting. 53~31.
The score line in the end was as you might have expected from our one league difference, but early on, they showed why they are top of their league by giving themselves a very respectable lead at halftime.
Lots of good performances in the end, Sam Fincham showed why he should be glued in to the second team, Toby Moss gets better and better each week, Al Thomas, for the forwards, played well and was still running at the end.
Good to see Cam Donkin back in the side from injury.
This put us in the final of the Devon second team cup, against whoever won out of Topsham and Ivybridge.

The Team.
1. Josh Martin. JML Bricklaying.
2. Ethan Millard. Vessel Social Work Services
3. Harry West.
4. Andy Pond. Steak and Omelette restaurant.
5. Al Thomas. Southway Service Station Services Ltd.
6. Aaron Duffield. Startup Marketing.
7. George Hamblin.
8. Freddy Dover. Invisible to Invincible.
9. Rohan Johnson.
10. Leighton Stark. ASAP renovations SW.
11. Sam Fincham. Severn Access and rescue Ltd
12. Ewan Piercy. Media Bulldog.
13. Charlie Over. Roast Coffee.
14. Jay Hick.
15. Toby Moss. Identity fashions.
16. Cam Donkin. Sipps.
17. James Thorp.
18. Taine Morgan.
19. Daniyer Pomeroy.
20. Aiden Taylor. Market Media.

The Management
Dickie Duffield. Esq.
Steve Hilland.