Report courtesy of the Herald Express

Torquay's grip on the Devon Cup was prised off in a tense semi-final that stayed in doubt until time added on.Exmouth had already beaten Torquay twice in South West Two this season and went into the game as favourites.

But the Cockles were never able to impose themselves on the game as they would have liked and were glad of a stoppage time penalty for putting them in the clear once and for all.

Although the rain held off it was a not a good day for rugby. A bitterly cold wind swept in from the Haldon Hills and didn't relent all afternoon.

Within minutes, Torquay stand-off Matt Jackson put his side ahead when he slotted a penalty from 15 metres.

For the next 10 minutes Torquay were marginally in control, then Exmouth caught them on the counterattack

Richard Cadywould punted a long ball towards the Torquay line that wrong-footed Tics' full-back, Paul Clark, who had to touch down to give Exmouth a five-metre scrum.

The Exmouth pack, which had struggled for control up to this point, produced good ball and when the ball passed to Jack Downie he brushed off the defence to score wide out and give Exmouth a 5-3 lead.

Five minutes later Cadywould had a penalty shot from 30 metres out but the wind was not kind to him and the ball sailed past the posts.

With twenty five minutes gone Torquay threatened and an opportunity was lost when winger Matt Allinson decided to kick ahead rather than keep the ball in hand.

Torquay generally had the better of line-outs and scrums and Exmouth did well to keep the half time score to 5-3.

Cadywould kicked off the second half into the wind and Exmouth camped in the Torquay 22 for the next 15 minutes, but came away with nothing.

Torquay got back into the Exmouth half and with 30 minutes played captain Ben Passenger dropped a goal to give the Tics the lead for the second time.

From the restart, Exmouth won a line-out and, following a standard catch and drive, Dale Sleeman sprinted 30 yards to finish things off with a try.

With 10 minutes to go and only four points in it, Torquay weren't out of the game yet.

Passenger tried his luck again with another drop-goal attempt, but this time the wind was the winner.

With five minutes of injury time played Cadywould slotted over a penalty to settle the game.

CUP DEFEAT IS FINAL BLOW FOR TORQUAY


11:00 - 26 March 2008

Torquay Athletic's season looks like fizzling out after their exit at Exmouth in the Rhino Devon Senior Cup.

Torquay, the holders, lost 13-6 to Exmouth, which denied them what would have been a fourth successive trip to the final.Pre-match problems, which meant calling up 39-year-old veteran Paul Clark for the first time in two years, and a lengthening casualty list during the match eventually contributed to the Tics undoing.

It was a close-run thing from start to finish and Exmouth were only sure of their place in next month's final when Richard Cadywould potted a penalty five minutes into time added on.

Torquay captain Ben Passenger had no complaints, but did wonder how the game might have panned out on a less windy day and with his best side on the park.

"It was gale force from end to end and it was very easy to get shunted back 50-60 yards if you got turned over," said Passenger.

"I was pleased we were only 5-3 down at half time as I felt we could go on and win the game from that position.

"We needed to get our hands on the ball though - and for the first 15 minutes Exmouth didn't let us.

"Jon Arnold went off in the first 10 minutes, then we lost Andy Knight soon after. That's two big forward holes to cover.

"I dropped a goal, which put us ahead, but we knocked-on at the restart and they scored a try from the scrum to go straight back into the lead.

"I always felt we could get back in front again and only gave it up when they landed that late penalty."

Torquay are nailed on to finish fourth in the South West Two table, one place below where they finished last term.

Passenger said the remaining motivation is to defeat Devon rivals Barnstaple when they visit the Recreation Ground on the last day of the regular season.

"The way things are going it looks like Barnstaple will be in the play-offs already by then as it would have been nice to have been in a position to make life difficult for them," said Passenger.

"Torquay-Barnstaple is always a big game though and we will be going all out to beat them to make it a good end to our season."