Exmouth v Devonport Services Girls U16- Devon Cup.
A report from the pen of Nick Fleming.

Under a darkening sky the Devonport girls U16 travelled to Exmouth RFC for their second meeting this season with the Exmouth girls U16 team in the Devon Cup. Their first game was a tough, physical encounter with Devonport edging the victory at home. Exmouth were keen to avenge that loss.

This game, played on a muddy, trammelled pitch, was a tough energy-sapping affair between two evenly matched teams. Just like last week’s game at Crediton, the referee’s whistle was a consistent feature, unfortunately favouring the home team again for the large part. The pitch conditions precluded a fast-running and flowing game, with set pieces, scrum and line-outs interrupting short passages of play.

In the first half, Exmouth put Devonport under constant pressure throughout, rushing up fast on the Devonport attack, preventing any break-through behind their lines and in turn forcing errors from Devonport. The first Exmouth try came after just four minutes when capitalised on a penalty advantage following receipt of the ball to run towards the towards the Devonport line. Devonport countered, only to knock on allowing Exmouth to pushover the Devonport try line. The second try from Exmouth came after a sustained period of trench warfare in the Devonport 22-yard line and an intercepted pass by a muddied, Exmouth lurker. The first half ended 10-0 to Exmouth.

Following the half-time team talk and regroup, the Devonport girls put in a massive defensive effort to stall Exmouth’s attacks, and countered with several penetrating runs that suggested breakthroughs might be imminent, only to lose possession in the effort. Finally, a breakthrough came midway through the second half in the Exmouth 22-yard line with Devonport moving the ball deftly, first left then right across the pitch, finally into the hands of Taylor, receiving the ball at pace to place the ball over the Exmouth line. An excellent team try and an indication of what the Devonport girls are capable of. Score now 10-5 Exmouth.

Devonport applied significant pressure of their own for the rest of the second half but could not capitalise fully on that effort to get the win this time around, with Exmouth’s defence remaining resolute. Final score Exmouth 10 Devonport.

Both teams displayed both dogged attack and excellent defence with some crunching tackles in evidence. Scrums were generally evenly matched with some impressive driving from the Devonport forwards in the second half. But in the end, Exmouth made better use of the chances offered and used their more powerful players to good effect, making regular, direct beaks and good yardage up the centre of the pitch and occasionally getting fast ball out to the wings.

Despite the narrow defeat, Devonport got the bonus point, maintaining their advantage and top position in the Cup Pool 2 table.