Yes it's for real!

Honiton kicked off the new year with an emphatic victory at home against mid table Bodmin. The three games prior to the Christmas break showed much promise and having run the top two sides close in their last two outings their was an air of confidence as Honiton took to the field for the first encounter of the New Year.

Skipper Price elected to play up the filed and with difficult underfoot conditions and a greasy ball handing was always going to be difficult but what a start! With just four minutes on clock and Robbie Harrison crashed over from short range for the first score which ended several well worked drives. Ollie Cave added the extras and with tails up another sweep up field saw Harry Wright in space and a neat off load to Ben Webber saw the second score on the board. Bodmin railed a bit but they were still under the cosh, Cave slotted a penalty and shortly afterwards a good break from deep from Phil Bennett saw the ball reach Kyle Blackmoor who still had work to do to reach the line. Wright finished the half with another good team try and Cave slotted the conversion and The Ton turned round with a 27-0 advantage against the slope.

The second half started in the same vain, Stef Archer cantered in from the twenty two after good work from the forwards. A good break from Steve Next put James Coutes in space and he won the foot race to the line. Ollie Cave then scampered over from shot range and converted as well.

Honiton were maybe a little guilty of taking their grip of the throat of the visitors and the Cornish men did make inroads and would have scored out wide bar a big hit from number 8 Josh Rice who unfortunately was deemed to have been a little over zealous with the tackle and received a yellow card. Despite this Honiton defended well and it was good to see an aggressive approach to the defence line that often pushed the visitors back as they tried to retain the ball. There was another card for the Ton as Cave fell foul to the new tackle laws but the damage was done and even with 14 men it was really one way traffic for the rest of the game. A good break from deep saw “back from injury” Will Tyers open up the throttle to score out wide and he then he a had in the last try as he fed a good inside ball to Nex who got the ninth and final score.

This win was just what the doctor ordered and it was great to see smiles on faces after the game. It was by far Honiton best team/squad performance of the campaign and tails are wagging. Honiton do however need to be wary of any complacency and this emphatic team performance is but one step on a path to getting to a position of safety in the league. There are still lots of things to work on and the hard work needs to be continued at training. Next week it’s a short trip down to Topsham and it is a game Honiton need to target for a win but this will only be achieved by a focused approach and remembering it’s a new game and last week heroics are done and dusted. Move on, show up and get the job done it's a new week!