After a long break, a closely fought battle at Allhallows against Honiton ended with a narrow defeat for Withy.

An explosive start to the game saw Honiton benefit from a fortuitous bounce of the ball from their touch-finding kick. With the ball evading the defensive grasp of the Withycombe winger, the Honiton centre collected the ball to run in unopposed within the first minute of the game. The conversion attempt drifted wide of the posts to give the hosts a very early 5-0 lead.

It wasn’t long before Withy had cancelled out the early score with a blinder of their own. Quick Honiton handling just inside their own half was beautifully intercepted by Liam Daniels, who broke free to gain some good territory. The ball was shipped out to Ben Dawson who finished off the move with a score under the posts. Ethan Wildgoose’s conversion put the visitors 5-7 up after just three minutes.

The rest of the half settled into a tight, tactical affair with most action in the middle third and only penalties to separate the sides. The hosts secured an early advantage after six minutes of play. Withies narrowly missed an opportunity to take back the lead fifteen minutes later, as their attempt drifted just wide of the uprights. A final successful kick from the home side during the first quarter brought the half time score to a closely contested 11-7.

Another penalty shortly into the second half extended Honiton’s lead to 14-7, allowing for confidence to build inside the home camp. Pinning Withy deep inside their own 22, the pressure was building. However, the visiting defence stood strong against the persistent attack, despite spending almost the entire third quarter with a man down. Multiple waves of attack in the red zone and two kicks at goal all resulted in no further points to the home side.

The final ten minutes of the game belonged to Withy and with some sustained pressure of their own, Joe Blyth finally crossed the whitewash on 75 minutes. The unsuccessful conversion left Withy two points adrift, but they continued to battle. With the clock deep in the red, Withies were building up another attack inside the 22’. An injury in the field of play momentarily halted the match; but with the resuming scrum not going to Withycombe as expected, the hosts quickly cleared the scrum and kicked the ball dead to end the game.

The final score: Honiton 14, Withycombe 12.

Next week, the boys travel to North Devon to play Bideford