Final score: Topsham RFC 64 - 9 Withycombe RFC

With the East Devon derby getting underway, Withies started well, putting pressure on the hosts from the start drawing two early penalties; the second of the two penalties gave Vice-Captain Tom Cooke an opportunity to put the boys ahead with a shot at goal. Now three points ahead, Withy continued the pressure and managed to steal the ball from contact to work back up the field. The points tally doubled as the first quarter drew to a close as Cooke slotted his second penalty against the wind to put the score at 6-0.

Topsham opened up their scoring shortly after as some quick recycling of the ball saw them score under the posts. Topsham's lack of discipline early in the game allowed Withy to capitalise well and on the half hour mark, the opportunity of another penalty came along and to give Withycombe a 7-9 lead. Topsham struck back again with two breaks down the wing and two tries to put them 21-9 ahead at half time.

With the second half underway, the Withy boys continued to put together some good rugby in both attack and defence. Unfortunately, our old enemy injury started to rear it's ugly head and with several quick injuries being picked up in the high-impact game, Withy found themselves running out of options, even having to resort to uncontested scrums.

With options tight, Withy worked hard but were getting tired, leaving a few gaps for Topsham to exploit for a number of tries down the wings. Not the result we wanted today and certainly not the scoreline the boys deserved with the level of effort put in for almost an hour. Either way, a result we shall take and work on ready for our next game. There's a week off next weekend so our next game will be on the 5th March when we welcome Newquay Hornets to Raleigh Park. Kick off 2:30pm