Honiton made further advances to play in Devon Colts Cup Final to be held at Sandy Park in May.
Honiton had the arduous task of playing against the infamous slope for the first half. Ivybridge took the kick and Honiton were soon up in the visitors 22, and made short work of the first points on the board as Louis Groves was able to storm the line from a well worked passage of play. A promising start as Ross Oaten slotted the extras. Honiton were in control all over the park and with dominant forwards the ball was again played close, until such time as it was span out to Ross Oaten who bobbed and weaved his way through until the line was found for the second time. He converted his own kick. Ivybridge didn’t appear to have any say in the game and Honiton looked as if they could have run away with it. Ben Kidson found the line next as a well worked ball was span out to the far fringes, but he ran in a bit too far out for the conversion to find its target. Honiton took their eyes off the prize and Ivybridge were suddenly back in the game as a loose ball found its way quickly out to the wing where it was run in unanswered. The kick also found the spot and Ivy were now 19-7 behind. With the wake up call Honiton opened the points gap a little further as Ross Oaten was able to collect and ran in to earn himself a brace and the kick (26-7). With the game looking as if it was in the bag Honiton may have tried to over complicate things and Ivybridge were able to intersect and ran in a long distance try the length of the pitch leaving the scores again within reach. Honiton dusted off and carried on until another disappointing try landed from Ivybridge as a deep kick failed to get collected, bouncing badly, Ivybridge were able to run on to it and cross under the sticks. Honiton’s comfortable lead was now down to one score and all to play for. Honiton now had the favour of the slope and it was worked well in the second half. Kicking deep the ball remained in Ivybridge’s half for long periods and the dominant forwards made short work of possession. Harry Wright broke through to dot down soon after the restart to give Honiton some daylight between the score (31-19). Again Ivybridge fought back and were back in the game shortly after as a further try was ran in from the wing as a result of some loose tackling. The young Lacemen settled themselves and played with ball in hand until a long kick found touch deep in the visitors territory. The white wash was soon found again as Cody Northcott bulldozed his way over from the back of the resulting ruck. Rosses boot struck well and gasps of delight were heard when the ball bounced around the woodwork until it eventually fell the right side to claim the extras. With the game now 38-26 Ivy required 2 scores. Johnny House put the game to bed as he found the line for the last time, Ross again bagged the kick to leave the final score a well deserved 45-26 to a jubilant Lacemen squad. Honiton’s Man Of The Match was awarded to Finn Parratt for his tireless work load, along with his ball carrying and ruck clearance.
We would like to thank Pro Decorating Services of Hemyock this week for sponsoring the match ball.
Honiton Colts next match is Wednesday 8th April 6.30pm KO when they travel to Newton Abbot.
This game will take us one step nearer to the Devon Colts Cup final to be held at Sandy Park on the 3rd of May. Please come and support if you can.