On a rather sticky pitch Honiton entertained Cornish club Lanner. Honiton were looking for revenge as the away fixture earlier in the season, saw them lose out narrowly in the dying moments of the game.
With a bus load of supporters in tow, the visitors won the toss and elected to play up the slope. Honiton knew they had to have a good start and they did as Ollie Cave slotted an early penalty to steady nerves and on the ten minute mark a good chase from Kyle Blackmore saw him secure the ball and he released Jake Smith to sprint in from the ten yard line. Lanner were quick to bounce back with a well worked try of their own.Honiton then had the lions share of the possession and with a dominant scrum they walked Lanner back over their own line and Honiton were awarded a penalty try which Cave converted. There was another penalty for The Lacemen as Lanner seemed to be on the wrong side of the ref. The half finished with Honiton in the driving seat at 20-5. The question was it enough of a lead with Honiton's turn to play up the slope and to be fair, Lanner did look dangerous on the counter.
Honiton dug deep and defended well as Lanner threw every thing at Honiton. There was then a sense of relief, as Jake Smith was released up the left to score his second of the day. Again ill discipline was the Cornish mens undoing as a second man was yellow carded. Honiton took full advantage and a good blind side break from a wheeled scrum saw Josh Rice (sponsored by ultim8 construction )with a two on one left, he executed well for Phil Bennett to get the unposed bonus point try. That score saw the visitors resolve broken and with time running out a similar break from Rice put Bennett in for his brace.
The final score was a convincing 39-5 win for the Lacemen but the visitors played there part in a tough encounter. For Honiton the 5 points were invaluable but as a collective squad they played well and ground a good side down. The backs looked dangerous through out but up front, the pack who were marshaled well by Will Goulden, did a job on the opposition. Man of the match went to Matt (Bill) Baily who worked hard through out!
Despite the loss the Lanner boys sayed behind for a beer or two and so the day wasn't to bad Honiton let them win the boat race. Reminded me of the good old days when teams stayed after the games and despite the result actually remembered what it is all about play hard and have a good time.
Next week the ones have a week off to lick wounds and get ready to continue league survival action in a fortnights time.