Match review

Exeter Chiefs 10 London Welsh 3

by Big bob

 4,830 were at Sandy Park on a this dry but windy afternoon. The strength of the wind was shown by the flags being held by the Sidmouth juniors when the teams ran onto the pitch.

Within the first quarter the visitors had missed three missed penalties, however at least two of these were from within their own half, and even with the wind at their backs, were optimistic attempts
More Welsh pressure required a try saving tackle by Matt Jess, but on 31 minutes the visitors scored with their fourth penalty attempt to lead 0 – 3.

Danny Gray's resulting kick off was disastrous as it was lofted high into the wind, only to travel about 3 meters,, A few minutes later he made amends with a good break , the move was then taken on by the forwards, the resulting try being by “our very own” Lewis Stevenson. Gray narrowly missing the touchline conversion tempt.

Half time 5-3

4 minutes into the second half Danny Gray's penalty attempt fell just short. A little later Barrett broke and chipped the ball over the defenders only for three of them to arrive at the ball before he did.

Following a long period of pressure, Chris Budgen scored the Chiefs second and final try of the day burrowing over in the north east corner. Once again Gray's touchline conversion attempt failed to sail between the posts. 10-3

Late into the second half Ed Lewsey replaced Kevin Barrett and was injured only a few seconds after joining play, fortunately Ed was able to show one of the many differences between rugby and soccer players by getting up and carrying on, once the magic sponge had done it's stuff.

Territoriality the Chiefs dominated the second half but both teams were well matched and nullified each other time and time again. The ref, Mr Richards was a key figure in both halves as he , time and time again, blew his whistle – a flowing game this was not. Mr Richards clearly saw a lot of infringements today but neither he or his touch judges saw the elbow by a London Welsh player aimed at Richie Pugh. This occurring shortly after Richie P had advised a touch judge of his displeasure at the Chiefs being penalised. Without the benefit of “Ref link” or video playback I don't really know whether or not the ref got if right for the majority of the time but it was a pity that he played such a prominent role in the proceedings – refs like small children should be seen and not heard!

After 8 minutes of injury time Mr Richards blew his whistle for the last time. London Welsh were physically a useful side with some big players, a full time outfit and sat fifth in the league before kick off. So should the Chiefs be satisfied with 4 points today? I think not and I say this after looking at how the Welsh have faired against the other top four teams that they have played thus far – They have lost at home to Bedford (23 – 32) and Leeds (0 – 38). You may disagree but it is a fact that the gap between us and Leeds widened today as a result of the lack of a bonus point.

It was good to see Chris Budgen receive his man of the match award and also Sam Blythe be recognised for his 150 league games for us.


Danny Gray's 0 from 3 attempts today with the boot takes his seasonal tally to 14 from 22 (63.63%) and thus moves Gareth Steenson above him in the accuracy stakes with 39 from 54 (72.22%). Several people around me were asking why Gareth did not get a run out today – do any club “insiders” know anything?

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