Exeter College 31 v 35 Truro College

In a pulsating game that was full of action including 9 tries and some end to end rugby it was Truro College who came out victorious in a well deserved win that produced Exeter’s first loss in the ACE league.

It was the visitors that took an early lead with a penalty within the first 5 minutes, however for the next 15 minutes it was all Exeter College scoring 3 tries. The first try was scored by second row Ed Spurway. With the forwards rumbling forward from a lineout drive, the maul was stopped just short and Spurway was on hand to power his way over for the try with the conversion kicked by Harrison Greenslade.

Next on the score sheet was centre Jeremy Tuima. From a scrum inside their own half the ball was fed out wide to full back Charlie Groves who raced through to take the attack deep into the Truro half. The forwards then took it on driving closer to the line before the ball was spun out and Tuima forced his way between two defenders to score.

Straight from the kick off Exeter cleared their lines and forced Truro back once again and it was the Exeter College Captain Joe Bailey that claimed the 3^rd try chasing the kicker and forcing the charge down and then having the wherewithal to chase the ball over the try line and dive on it to score.

This gave the home side a 17 – 3 lead but for the next half hour the game belonged to the Truro. A poor clearance from the hosts allowed Truro to exploit a gap on the blind side and claim their first try of the afternoon. With the conversion successful and Exeter’s discipline beginning to let them down Truro added a penalty and a further converted try to go into half time 17 – 20 up.

Truro extended their lead early into the 2^nd half with a third penalty and a simple try from a scrum giving them a 11 point lead. At this stage Truro were showing Exeter how to control a game but the home side weren’t done yet. A turnover on the Truro 10 meter line gave the Exeter the chance they required and they worked hard to get close to the line for back row Ben Hobbs to burrow his way over. The conversion was successfully, kicked by Giles Clarke. Then possibly the big turning point of the game came when Exeter had an interception chance just outside their own 22 meter line but the ball ended falling to the floor and it was Truro who reacted first and picked up the ball to run in behind the post for their bonus point try and with the extras kicked it gave them a 24 – 35 lead with only 5 minutes to go.

Exeter College didn’t give up and went back down the pitch and a great line on the blind side from prop Tom Gulley, who is hard to stop that close to the line dotted down with a couple of minutes left on the clock. Clarke added the extras to make 31- 35 with the kick off to come. The hosts tried to work the ball up the pitch for the elusive winning try however a penalty on the half way line allowed Truro the chance to kick the ball to touch and claim the well deserved victory.

Exeter College

1: Joe Thomson, 2: Jack Ballett, 3: Tom Gulley, 4: Ed Spurway, 5: Joe Bailey (Capt), 6: Ollie Willis, 7: Luca Barbot, 8: Charlie Parr, 9: Morgan Stone, 10: Harrison Greenslade, 11: Isaiah Akinrowo, 12: Louie Drennan, 13: Jeremy Tuima, 14: Reuban Brinkley, 15: Charlie Groves, Replacements: 16 Henry Roberts, 17: Harry Rodwell, 18: Ben Hobbs, 19: Levi Richards, 20: Max Fergusson, 21: Giles Clarke, 22: Kofi Firth

Tries; Spurway (9), Tamia (18), Bailey (21), Hobbs (55), Gulley (69)

Conv; Greenslade (10, 56), Clarke (69)

Yellow Card; Gulley (13)