Tribute Devon One
Exeter Saracens 10,
Totnes 37
Totnes travelled to the Old Show ground in Exeter to take on Exeter Saracens. Totnes were hoping for another double of the season.
Due to injuries, players were once again forced to play out of position. It was nice to see the return of back row Alex Smith, who had been sidelined with a back injury picked up last season. His abrasive play in the loose and line-out has been missed by Totnes.
With a solid eight and difficult playing conditions, it was the Totnes pack who won the game for their side, keeping the ball tight in rolling maul before releasing ball to their three-quarters.
Their first try came after a break down the blind side by Alex Smith. He timed his pass to winger Si Parris, who raced down the touch line before diving over in the corner.
They were unlucky not to score again after a break by number nine Aaron ‘Buzz’ Bartlett. He passed to hooker Dave Shinner, who was held up on the line.
From a maul 20 metres out the Totnes pack released quality ball and a miss-pass in midfield was picked up by winger Josh Green, who angled his run across field and ghosted through defenders to score under the posts. Outside-half Jamie Mitchelmore converted.
Sarries came back into the game for short periods and one such period saw a 40-metre run by their forwards, resulting in scrum-half Kieran Bromwell going over for a try.
Some excellent ankle-tapping tackles by Totnes prop and intelligent attack play by centre Akey Percival kept the score to 12-5 at half time.
Sarries looked refreshed in the second half and with playing conditions worsening second row Christian George crashed over to pull them back to within two points of Totnes.
An infringement resulted in Mitchelmore adding a penalty for Totnes to make the score 15-10.
The Totnes pack kept battering the Sarries’ line and Alex Smith peeled from the back of a scrum and battered himself over the line for a well-worked try.
With Saracens tiring in the heavy conditions, it was only a matter of time before Totnes added to their score.
The Totnes pack added the platform for tries by Aaron Bartlett and a second try by Si Parris, converted by Mitchelmore, making the final score Exeter Saracens 10, Totnes 37.
Totnes backs coach Mark Binnie said after the game: “We’ve been through a bit of a rough patch with unavailability and injuries, which resulted in a couple of defeats.
“However, we felt really positive heading into this game. Despite players out of position, we took the game to Sarries.
“Difficult conditions meant that we had to play a tighter forward game. 1-15 worked together and our quality shone through, as we dominated the second half.
“Eddy Edmonds was superb in the tight and showed some sublime moments of skill, which was matched by Alex Smith’s controlled aggression.
“Debutant George Shinner played his part in the victory and his father Dave will be proud of his son.
“We look forward to building on this victory and putting pressure on our neighbours Dartmouth in the league table.”