Excitement and expectation are building at Sidmouth RFC, as the Chiefs reached the midpoint of the league season in top place following a dominant 76-5 win over Newton Abbot, writes Terry O’Brien.

The Chiefs opened their account after two minutes when the forwards drove a lineout maul to the line and Jake Smith took a short pass to crash over for a try, which he also converted.

They continued to dominate proceedings for the next 20 minutes, but handling errors saw good opportunities go to waste. Eventually, Jake Smith looped around Tom Hodge from a scrum inside the Newton Abbot ‘22 to create a try for Dan Retter joining the line from full back. The conversion was unsuccessful.

Three tries in the final six minutes of the half put them in control. Ollie Derryman touched down at the back of a lineout catch-and-drive. Rob Griffin powered over from the base of a ruck after Rory O’Brien had made the running from a missed touch finder, and Ollie Derryman got his second following another Rory O’Brien run. Two conversions made it 31-0 at the break.

Ten minutes into the second half, Derryman completed his hat-trick when he drove over from close range. Cameron Grainger was sent over by Shaun Malton after a fine handling move. And the half century was brought up when George Locke took an inside pass from Cian Warren to finish of another fine handling move.

From the restart kick, a long break by Tom Hodge set up Rory O’Brien for a try. Newton Abbot scored a consolation try when their second row forward drove over from a ruck on the line.

The Chiefs took back control to add three more tries in the final ten minutes thanks to Josh Bess, Cian Warren and Rory O’Brien.

On Saturday, the Chiefs are at home again when they entertain Wellington kicking off at 2.30pm. The Quins travel to Teignmouth.

Last week, Sidmouth RFC Vets joined with players from Topsham RFC to take part in a Wooden Spoon Charity match against Exeter Engineers. Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby. It is a grant-making charity that funds life-changing projects across the UK & Ireland, using the power of rugby to transform young lives.