Cullompton were certainly not overawed by league leaders Exeter University this week as they had been against Drybrook in the first half last Saturday. The reason was probably twofold; firstly during the break last week director of rugby Steve Luxon had told the team that respect for the opposition was fine but awe was not and secondly, unlike any other team in the league this season, the university was a known quantity as Cully had had four tight games with them in the last two years winning two, drawing one and losing one.

Whether Cully started well or the Uni was slow out of the blocks but it was all Cully for the first quarter as they scored twice and pushed the home scrum all over the park, prompting one Cully supporter to question how forwards coach Harry Williams managed to extract such performance out of a relatively small pack especially as the opposition was fielding loosehead prop Will Cutbill who is a Wednesday BUCS* team regular.

Another Wednesday regular and sometimes Exeter Braves player Charlie Davies led the Uni recovery in the second quarter, laying on a fine display of place kicking to convert three tries one of which he scored himself which at the break made a score of 21-19 that included a late touch down by Cully captain Sean Mardell. After a further home score two minutes into the second half Cully reasserted their grip on proceedings and led 28-33 at the end of the third quarter only relinquishing the lead in the final ten minutes when a try by prop Aaron Coombes equalised the score. The game was decided by a late penalty about which Luxon was unhappy as he felt there was more than one opposition infringement immediately before Cully were caught straying off side.

For the best part of the first twenty minutes play was in the Cully half but the students never looked like scoring and Cully enjoyed a measure of possession from a very dominant scrum and a lineout containing locks Simon Kittow, Sam Coles, number eight Josh Mamola and flanker Sean Mardell; a profusion of jumpers in the line which seemed to bring out the best in hooker Chris Grant’s throwing. Cully’s tries came from a couple of clinical two minute raids in the ninth and twentieth minutes.

The first started from a Cully scrum in their own twenty two with patient ball carrying by winger James Shere, Mammola, standoff Lewys Ryan and winger Paul Baker who got it over the Uni ten from where scrum half Tom Frankpitt darted to the twenty two and passed to flanker George Woofenden who brushed off two defenders to score a try converted by centre Adam Pearce. The second try started even deeper in Cully territory when the visiting pack infiltrated and held up a student maul on their own five. From the ensuing scrum came a penalty for a lineout on the Cully ten with the ball well taken in by Mammola. Mardell carried the ball off at pace and passed to Ryan who fed it to Shere on the Uni ten. It looked as though Shere was going all the way but laid it off to the ever present Frankpitt who saw full back Marcus Busch unmarked on the touch line and put him away into the corner to move the score to 0-12.

At this point the students seemed to step up a gear, their pack held their ground a little better and their backs put together some fine loose play with runners taking the ball at speed and penetrating the defence well. In the twenty sixth minute the little Italian Pietro Di Chio who had earlier replaced injured standoff Issac Hydleman, burst through the line for a try converted by left winger, Davies. Three minutes later right wing Max Himbury brushed off a number of tackles with a great run down the touchline and put the nine Pierre Thompson in for the try. Davies converted proficiently then a few minutes later demonstrated his class showing pace and agility for an individual try through the Cully centre which he again converted.

The Cully comeback started with a yellow card for Woofenden. Supposedly for a second tip tackle it is believed to be a case of mistaken identity as Pearce was thought to be responsible for the second one. Pearce was probably delighted not to be binned but would have been miffed to think that the ref failed to notice the difference between his immaculate barnet and George’s unruly mop. The ambitious uni penalty kick from their twenty two was blown dead by the fresh breeze giving Cully an attacking scrum with Baker taking the place of Woofenden on the flank. In full control the ball moved from the scrum through the hands of prop John Snell, centre Dan Sanders, Mammola, Snell again, Frankpitt and finally to Sanders who was stopped just short of the line. Uni thirteen Sam Laity earned himself a yellow for kicking the ball out of the ruck and Cully took the penalty as a scrum from which Sanders again went agonisingly short of the line giving Mardell a pick and go for the try converted by Pearce for 19-21 at the break

Although the University ran the ball straight through to the Cully twenty two and the full back Jesse Lipetz-Robic squeezed in at the corner for a try in the forty second minute with a fine Davies touchline conversion through a strong side wind for 28-19; the home side found progress in the half more difficult as they faced the significant breeze. On forty nine minutes Cully reduced the deficit when they were awarded a penalty for the hosts crossing. Replacement hooker Dan Reed threw in well at the penalty lineout on the Uni twenty two with the ball moving through Woofenden and Snell to Shere who shot through the line to score a well deserved try after much support work in the game. Pearce converted for 28-26.

At the end of the third quarter Cully took the lead. After a confused lineout call the Uni cleared the ball which was carried back by replacement winger Josh Luxon and Sanders with Pearce taking it into contact where the students knocked on giving Cully a scrum on the hosts twenty two. The University were penalised at the scrum and Frankpitt tapped the award so quickly he was almost at the line before anyone reacted by which time their attempted tackles were too little too late and Pearce converted for 28-33.

Solid defence seemed to hold the students in check as the clock ticked towards the seventy minute mark when a penalty award to the Uni was kicked to the Cully five and the resulting lineout drive gave home tighthead Aaron Coombs the try but there was a stay of execution when surprisingly Davies missed the conversion leaving the score at 33-33. The game was lost however when Bush was faced with an awkward bobbling ball and was immediately pounced upon as he secured it on the Cully five, knocking on in the process which gave the University their winning position on the Cully line. Davies made no mistake with the penalty for 36-33
* BUCS is the English Universty League