Hornets in historic win over uni boys

By ALEX GREGGOR

Exeter Uni……….33pts

Hornets……………37pts

DESPITE an excellent second-half comeback, Hornets held on to beat a stubborn Exeter University outfit.

The uni boys started strongly, but were denied by an early knock on. Hornets capatilised as Owen Griffith opened the scoring ten minutes in.

It didn’t take long for Exeter to respond, as Finn Worley-Brady powered over from short range after Exeter had gone through at least 20 phases of play.

Hornets then began to put their foot down, Luke McMullan nailed a kick, before the yellow and blacks scored a quick-fire double.

McMullan found space and scored out wide, before Corey Baker took the intercept from within his own 22 and scored to extend the lead.

Exeter began to close the gap as Sam Erskine scored following a maul.

However, Exeter needed to find a way back into the game.

Just as we headed into the break, Hornets seemed to put the game to bed. Josh Sheppard broke down the left before being the full-back and scoring a fantastic solo try.

The second half was kicked off just as the first half ended, with a Hornets try.

This time it was Charlie Carter who touched down out wide to score the visitor’s fifth of the day.

With another penalty secured by McMullan, Hornets were fully in control.

However, with 20 minutes to go, Exeter woke up.

Some patient play in the 22 lead to Conor Byrne finding some space and scoring.

Lewis O’Grady got the conversion, and Exeter believed there was some hope.

Just a few minutes later O’Grady had a try of his own, muscling through a couple of defenders and reaching out to score.

The uni boys were not done yet though and their maul was effective again with Robert Gaffan scoring this time. O’Grady converted again to make the final ten minutes interesting.

However, despite the amazing comeback it wasn’t to be for Exeter as they came very close to completing the impossible but it was not quite enough and Hornets will come away with all five points.

Hornets Director of Rugby Jon Richardson said: “Massive win for us, we’ve never beaten Exeter at this level so to come away from home and beat a quality side like Exeter University is a huge stepping stone for us and I’m really pleased with the performance from the lads.”