Exeter Saracens Rugby Club, Exeter, Devon

Match Report

15th September 2007

Dartmouth 6 v Exeter Saracens 37

Determined to put the season on track Exeter Saracens started brightly at Dartmouth against sizeable opposition. Moving the ball quickly and clearing rucks with commitment Saracens spent the opening exchanges firmly camped in the Dartmouth 22. After 6 minutes James Ramirez put Saracens ahead with a straightforward penalty (if there is such a thing). Failing to deal with the restart as effective as they could Dartmouth spent a short period in the Saracens half. However the Saracens defence was robust and after a further 15 minutes, put Chris Crow away for a fine score. Another mis-fielded restart resulted in a penalty for the home side to make the score 3-8. This awoke Saracens again and within minutes of the restart the forwards won quick ball and Kieron Bromell broke through to extend Saracens lead. From the Dartmouth restart, a lineout ensued and the Dartmouth fly half kicked a drop goal from a good way out. For the remainder of the half, the Saracens pack dominated with Matt Archer everywhere and it was inevitable that Ben Croft would score a well worked try under the posts for James Ramirez to convert and make the half time score 20-6 in the visitors favour.

The half time break seemed to break Saracens flow and concentration and although they never looked like conceding a try, their play became fragmented and lacked the cohesion of the first half. It took 15 minutes before the next score when the forwards were rewarded with a driving try after several phases with Keith Ballantyne crashing over and James Ramirez again adding the points. The introduction of the 3 Saracens replacements, Dan Sweeny, Tim Bushell and Dan Bowles, the latter who had seen action in the first half as a blood replacement, brought fresh legs to the occasion. All three followed the game plan effectively to maintain Saracens dominance with Chris Crow scoring an excellent second try after quick ball from his rampaging forwards. The final score came after Ben Croft had come of his left wing to cut a perfect line through the centre of the field to score an individual try under the post to round off an excellent 37-6 victory which was soundly celebrated on the minibus journey home.

Saracens coach Brian Sherrell praised all of his players for a sound TEAM ethic with all of the players making significant contributions towards this solid victory.