Withy on top at Topsham

As the young Withies made their way to near rivals Topsham, there was a sense of anticipation that this could be the day Withycombe got their season on track. The decision had been made to go back to basics, and how it was to pay off was clear to see. With Topsham having a large squad there would be three games played to give all players adequate game time.

So onto the action. Game one got underway at a furious pace with Topsham scoring straight from the kick off as Withycombe took their time to get to grips with their tackling. The tide started to turn in a very close encounter with tries from Tom Lawrence and Corey Mills. Withycombe finally got to grips with their defensive play, and this led to possession being turned over several times. Very direct running from Brendan Moore and Charlie Tucker meant there was space out wide yo be exploited, and this was fully done by Otto Montgomery-Ames and Jack Mccdonald-Brown. Topsham were always in the game however, and but for Withycombes defence the result may have been different. Final score Topsham 4 Withycombe 5.

The second game followed a similar pattern to the first, Topsham however had upped their game and become much more physical. This saw Jamie Thompson, Lewis Tose and Kieran Long all on the receiving end of very tackles. The last of these on Long saw the Topsham player sent from the field. However this only served to spur on the Topsham side, and they kept attacking in wave after wave. And despite the try scoring efforts of Tose and Ben Jeffery, it was not to be enough, as Topsham came out on top. Final score Topsham 6 Withycombe 5.

And so after two thoroughly entertaining and gripping games of rugby the players from both sides took it upon themselves to play a third deciding game rather than a training match. And despite their greater numbers and fresher legs, it was to be the young Withies fitness that proved to be the difference. Tries seemed to be easier to come by with Kieran Long showing how to evade defender through the middle and Montgomery-Ames and Mccdonald-Brown doing the same out wide. The Withies defence was now also starting to dominate and keeping Topsham's chances to a minimum. All in all a great performance resulted in a final score of Topsham 4 Withycombe 9.

The improvements keep coming, and all players can be rightly proud of their efforts against a traditionally strong side.