A fair number of supporters left sodden Cullompton for the long journey to Gloucester and were relieved to find a dry playable pitch as a postponement of this match would have meant a replay on April 28th the day scheduled for the home Cup Final against Sidmouth, a game that every player wants to be in but a game that many could have missed as Cully is away on tour the following weekend. Present amongst spectators was Cully’s latest international celebrity playing member Molly Hussell, the pocket tornado flanker who has earned a place in the England Deaf Ladies team. Molly dropped in at Matson on her way home from squad training at Bromsgrove which is in preparation for the deaf sevens world championships to be held in Sydney in two weeks time. All Cully members wish her well and will be following the progress of her and her team with great interest!

In a game Cullompton could reasonably have expected to win they came second best despite having sixty three percent of territory and possession. Mindset, mindset, mindset said team manager Steve Luxon after the game “The result would have been different if the team had reproduced the form shown against Launceston two weeks ago” and captain Sean Mardell shared the opinion adding that the week’s training and the trip up had seemed lacklustre. Spectators would have added that discipline was poor as Cully gave away fourteen penalties with two yellow cards as opposed to the home side’s six with one yellow. The home side’s four tries were all preceded by one or more penalty awards whilst many of Cully’s best moves were curtailed with the referee’s whistle but the visitors did butcher more than one good opportunity all on their own; enough in the final analysis to have taken the win.

The Matson victory was based on a well drilled lineout and ensuing maul, some backs with good pace and superior referee management. The ref, who for those who know him looked like a handsome Nick Gilbert, was at odds with Cully from the outset after one of his early decisions had attracted some harsh remarks. Fortunately rugby is a game where the referee is king so it as well to remember that many of the decisions in some areas of the game are not black and white but a matter of personal interpretation. Was the player tackled without the ball or was he cleared out of a ruck? How quick is a held up player declared to be in a maul? How quick is a tackled player considered to be holding on to the ball? Matson certainly seemed to realise that that it was better to be on good terms with the man in the middle whatever his agenda.

Matson took the game to Cully in the first ten minutes after a long clearance, in the opening seconds from flyhalf Alex Brooks, was hacked on and the hosts were forced to touch down in goal. Straight from the twenty two drop out Matson left wing Jevon Brown streaked down his touchline and was only stopped with a try saving tackle by full back Ross Toms. It seemed to take several minutes to contain the determined driving tactics of the home side as Cully fought off mauls from two penalty lineouts and strong attacks from the five meter line but a firm tackle by number eight George Woofenden got the knock on and the tide was turned with a strong scrum.

The eleventh minute saw winger Josh Luxon and lock Sam Cook carry to the opposition half where Matson infringed and Cully got a penalty lineout in their twenty two. A Cully knock on at the lineout resulted in a scrum which took four minutes to complete as the home pack struggled to compete and numerous resets were ordered.It ended when Matson knocked on at the base for a Cully scrum from which centre Lewys Ryan carried well almost to the line where he was deemed to have held on to the ball in the tackle. From the penalty lineout Matson broke to the Cully half, got a lineout in the Cully twenty two and formed a maul which marched all the way to the Cully line for the opening try on twenty one minutes. Despite the serene and uninterrupted progress of this drive which was actually touched down in the usual way the ref declared it a penalty try and binned Cully eight Adam Jarrett for going in at the side.

Cully maintained possession and territory for the remainder of the half bar three minutes. Immediately Ryan ran it almost to the line and chose to take the ball into contact but despite support was penalised again. Around the half hour good approach work by winger Jack Stoddart, Woofenden, prop Chris Grant, centre Dan Sanders and Toms earned a penalty on the Matson five which was taken as a scrum by the seven man Cully pack. Woofenden looked very near and hooker Jeremy Turner was held up and the Cully scrum was in action again. Ironically another penalty was kicked for lineout just as Jarrett returned to action, the line was overthrown and the position in the Matson five was lost until the end of the half when a good incursion by Sanders, Mardell, Woofenden and Ryan fell victim to another penalty decision leaving the score 7-0 at the break.

An early penalty in the second half gave Matson eight Tom Porter a training ground try down the blind side of the penalty lineout with centre Liam Keating converting for 14-0 but straight from the dropout a Ryan crossfield kick found Luxon and after the ball moved through Woofenden and Jarrett it was returned to Luxon who ran in the try but was unable to convert for 14-5 on forty six minutes. Around the fifty four minute mark successive penalties moved Matson up field into an attacking position and as the ball moved away from the lineout it was taken on by flying full back Aaron Morefield who ran in an unconverted try. Cully managed another quick repost when a tap penalty by scrumhalf Tom Frankpitt was knocked on by Matson and straight from the scrum Luxon put Ryan in for the unconverted try for 19-10 on sixty minutes.

It was still possible for either side to grab a win but Matson had their tails up. Around the seventieth minute a penalty gave them a lineout on the Cully twenty two and in the ensuing drive replacement lock Andrew Hayball lost his footing and was trampled under foot but was binned for pulling down the maul. A minute later the seven man Cully scrum evicted Matson from their five with a brilliant shove. A good break by Jacob Wood started a fine handling move which put Toms in a position to threaten the line but once again Cully were penalised, this time for crossing. Another penalty near time however gave Matson their bonus point win as they trundled over with another maul for hooker Tom Collier to touch down and Keating to convert for 26-10.

Luxon said after the game that their position in the league was secure but he still sought a reasonable finishing position and the players could rest assured that those who showed the form in the next two league games would be the ones who would fill the coveted places for the Cup Final against Sidmouth.