Withycombe got their season up and running with an entertaining 39-22 victory at Exeter Saracens. 

The Sarries opened the scoring with a penalty in the first minute, as they dominated the early phases of play. Gradually, the Withies established some control, particularly with some powerful scrummaging. 

This pressure was converted into points as debutant and eventual man of the match Dion Warner carried the ball well from a lineout, breaking down the first line of defence before passing to Tom Cooke, who caught his own chipped ball to score under the posts to put Withycombe 3-7 ahead.  

Withycombe were back on the scoresheet shortly after the restart when Sam Warren intercepted the Saracens attack to break clear and score; Cooke’s conversion doubled the Withy points tally to 14. 

Cooke notched another penalty and poor discipline from Sarries led to a sin bin offence. Withy made the most of this and exploited the gap well when Joe Blyth peeled away from a rolling maul 5m out to score and bring the first half to a close with the score at 3-25. 

The first points of the second period came through the hosts after a few good phases of rugby saw the ball travel out wide for a try in the corner of the pitch. A penalty try then restored the Withies cushion. 

Exmouth Journal:

Sarries refused to let their heads drop and picked up the pace; this caught Withy out a little as a short outage of concentration allowed the hosts back into the game through two quick-fire tries, bringing the score from 8-32 to 22-32 in a matter of six minutes. 

The Saracens began to exert further pressure and one drive took them to the 5m line. The hosts knew they needed to look after the ball in this dangerous position, but with a pass being overthrown past the lineout, it landed in the hands of Withy Number 8 Luke Pattison, who ran the short journey to the line to score the final try of the game. Cooke’s conversion bisected the posts to bring the game to a close. 

A great display from every player on the field with some impressive individual performances, as well as collectively as a team. Withycombe host Honiton at Raleigh Park on Saturday, kick-off 2.30pm.