Well…. it’s defiantly got colder and I think at last we are moving into the “normal” Autum weather.. mind it was pretty warm on Sunday. Nice to have got some rain this week which means some of the grass on the “field of dreams” has one last chance to grow.
For those of you who came down on Saturday I think you’d agree the pitch looked in good nick and I will say again a big thanks to Chris Baily as he rolled both pitches and we even had stripes on the pitch which looked very professional. I will also say a big thanks to young Tom Baily who helped me with the setting up of the pitch and the drilling of the holes for the flag poles, he wasn’t phased one bit when I gave him the drill and he just got on with it. We also set the new seating stands in place and I was pleased to hear there was a lot of people using them when watching the big game. Oooh! a grand stand at Honiton what ever next!

Blackdown Vets were the sponsors for the day and having been watered and fed it was game time for this long awaited first home game and of course it was a local derby against Withycombe. Honiton lost the toss and were asked to play down the slope and they opened the scoring with a penalty which was quickly cancelled when the visitor knocked one over as well. The Ton scored the first try and soon after added two more to get in the driving seat.. but the Seasiders fought their way back into the half and their case was also help by a Ton sinbinning for continual infringements and they did finished strongly to turn round only 20-11 down.
Withies started the second half well and quickly scored bought them back to 20-18 and Honiton were rattled.
Playing up the slope now, the Ton regrouped and basically took control and with several very well worked tries, Honiton were soon over the hill at 45-18 but again Withycombe bounced back in the last few minutes and with Honiton giving away penalties, they got two consolation tries to finish the game at 45-30.
It was a good game all in all and opinion is the better side won but with a penalty count of 30 against, I think a better sides would have capitalised a lot more and this needs working on.
Hey ho… two wins out of two and still the cup holders!
Big thanks to all the helpers to get the game on and great to see a very healthy crowd supporting local rugby and I must say a big thanks to all who put dosh in Jules’ bucket, I think you probably underestimate how much this helps to keep us going in these hard times.
Even better was to follow as our twos popped down to Withycombe and only went and did the double with a similar score which was 28-45 by all accounts we played well, won all the lineouts and there was some strong running with a fair smattering of tries. This is great news and fielding two sides regularly is how we can grow.

Sunday… Sun was out for all and there is some great photos of the games and some great reports on the parents facebook page. We welcomed mainly Topsham, and there was a few 3 wayers with Cully.
Our 7s played their first ever home game at the Ton, another lot on the rugby journey. They played Cully and Topsham and good fun was had by all..just to say, Ethan Roots was watching as his son was playing in his first ever Rugby match too (for Topsham though).
Our 8s were away and they had a good day out. The 9’s first home game was also played against Cully and Topsham. All teams including ours have big numbers which meant we needed 3 pitches to accommodate the round robin games. The 10’s were down at Tops and had a good day and with no game, the 11’s had a training game amongst themselves.
The 12s played Topsham in a rearranged game as they were due to be away but their pitch was apparently too hard. Despite having a large squad with one enormous lad their expected win didn’t materialise and with Honiton winning 6-0 after 25 mins they then felt our pitch was too hard and the game was abandoned ! Hummm!
The 14s played with Cully against Newton Abbott and it was a tough game for our boys.
The 16s continued there impressive start to season with another good win over Cully.
Well done everyone great to see Allhallows full again.

Oh! one quick note, Kate Smith is running our “pop up” shop this season which is basically a second hand swap shop for kit, boots etc. So if you have anything to donate or indeed need stuff you can get it from the club. Big thanks Kate and all helps.

Ok Saturday it’s a real biggy… Plymouth Old Public Oaks are the opposition and whilst they got relegated last season, apparently they have recruited hard and have a few “names” in their ranks. They have also won both their matches so it’s a juicy prospect and of course the cup is on the line again. We’d love the “Massive” to be there in force to add noise. It’s a 2.30 ko, not sure why but it is and no one seems to stick to the start time rules now. .
There is no twos game this week which is a shame and I hope the momentum of last week doesn’t get lost.

Genna has rustled up our games for Sunday, which are as follows … the 7,8,9,10 and the 11’s are all off to Crewkerne for their matches. The 12’s and 13’s are home to them. The 14’s are clustering with Cully and Sarries for a game and the unbeaten 16’s hope to continue their winning form with a tough league trip to Tivy.

That will do so #UTT

Jez

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