Seasider's play host to relegated Exmouth

A splendid afternoon and a big crowd anticipating the new season. The kick off was preceded by a minutes’ silence in memory of Weston members Mike Campbell, Bill Poole and John Cornish.

Weston has handed out some hidings in this League in the past couple of seasons but on this occasion they found themselves on the end of one, courtesy of a well organised and established Exmouth team containing thirteen players from last season. The home side is going through a rebuilding process, with many newcomers, and ongoing unavailability and injuries, but there is no excuse for their porous defence and the ease with which the opposition scored their eight tries. The final score was made to look even worse as Exmouth kicker Meadows didn’t miss one of his eleven pots at goal for a personal haul of 25 points.

The first twenty minutes were well contested, with just a penalty separating the sides but the Cockles scored thrice in seven minutes through a scrambled effort by a prop forward, a further score by their diminutive but very elusive full back, and a penalty following a yellow card for Weston prop Walker. 0-3 had become 0-20 in the blink of an eye! A further converted try and a penalty in the next quarter of an hour brought up half time with the hosts trailing 0-30. A scoring opportunity on the Exmouth line was lost in the final bout of play when the home line out misfired for the visitors to progress 70 metres down the pitch.

There was to be no Weston fightback in the second half as the Cockles continued to win the battle in the loose and at the lineout, although the home scrum acquitted itself well in the set piece. Three further tries were conceded in the next twenty minutes as the score went past the half century. At this point Weston showed some spirit. The ball was retained for several minutes, and Harry Jones, who had made several unsupported breaks, showed excellent speed to outpace a defender and pick up a corner try from an accurately placed kick….muted cheers from a disappointed crowd. The joy was short lived. Exmouth responded with a simple overlap score. Weston doubled their meagre tally when Morrissey touched down on 75 minutes following a series of scrums on the opposition tryline, and then gave away another try with a midfield interception and a simple run-in. 10-65, and a game to forget, but to build on as the season progresses.