On a scorching day, Exmouth Colts sauntered to an impressive 36- 7 win over Wellington, writes Warren F Keays-Smith.
A physical start saw Exmouth rising to the challenge with good defence against Wellington's strong forwards runners. The first score went to Exmouth skipper Matt Burke, after a driving Maul was formed from a line-out, testing the opposition defence.
Another battle of possession saw Exmouth come out on top, when the team produced some running rugby, breaking Wellington's defence in open play that cumulated in a try, again scored by Burke, with Charlie Tate converting the kick for 12-0.
The next score again came from open play and was a testament to the handling skills of the Exmouth team. This time the reward was for number fifteen, Jason Robertson, scoring, but not converted, 17-0.
With Wellington struggling to breach the home defence, the ball was thrown wide, intercepted Ned Brown, scoring under the sticks and converted by Charlie Tate and bringing the half-time score to 24-0.
Within five minutes, it seemed that Wellington had managed to regroup, when they ran in a try from open play. With the conversion, the score still favoured Exmouth, 24 - 7.
After a water break and change of players, the Cockles started turning up the pressure, utilising their fitness against a frustrated and tired, team running the ball well to again see the speedster Jason Robertson scoring. With a missed conversion, the score further moved the teams apart on the score sheet to 29 - 7.
Again after further water intake and more player changes, the final quarter was underway. With the heat of the day and the relentless efforts impacting the traveling team’s discipline, Exmouth kept their cool, throw the ball wide, back inside to Ryan Harris-Cotton to bring the score, with the conversion from no 9, Feddie Barrow, to 36 -7.
With one minute to go, Wellington found some reserves getting within five metres of Exmouth's Try line for a line out. Unfortunately for Wellington, this was unsuccessful, and the final whistle was blown - seeing a well-deserved win for the Cockles.
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