East Devon Eagles put in another superb performance this week against Torquay based Devon Charks winning 68-16 in the first round of the South West Challenge Cup.

 

Sharks were first on the scoresheet with a Joe Akkersdyke try converted by Matt Jackson but Eagles leveled the score when Andy Melbourne powered his way over the line, Rich Cadywould converting.

 

Sharks went ahead with a Jack Linley-Shaw try converted by Jackson but then the Eagles went into action and scored 4 tries before half time.  Good midfield work by Cadywould and Jack Westlake who broke through 2 tackles to score in the corner and Jascha Saeck was unlucky when the referee disallowed his try as he was deemed over the dead ball line. 

 

On the half hour, Mark Wathes made a super solo run from halfway to touchdown under the posts and when Mike Wilson broke left, Luke Kent was the first receiver and he touched down near the posts, Cadywould converting all 3 tries.

 

On 40 minutes, good interpassing by Cadywould and Wilson saw Ben Damen on hand to catch the ball and run in by the corner flag for his first Eagles try but the wind took the conversion wide, giving the Eagles a 28-10 lead at the break.

 

The second half saw the Eagles take charge of the game and when Andy Lendon made the hard yards, Garry Hooper took the ball towards the line.  When the Sharks defence was broken, skipper Dave McCarthy took advantage to go over under the uprights, Cadywould converting.

 

In the next 20 minutes the Eagles notched up a further 4 converted tries.  Cadywould cut through the middle of the Sharks line to go over in the corner, and good interpassing by Hooper and Cadywould and on to Ben Damen saw him score his 2nd try. 

 

Within the next 2 minutes Paul Flower made a break and made good ground before being tackled.  Cadywould played the ball to Wathes who made a superb darting run for the line grounding the ball under the posts and then an almost copycat try, this time Paul Morgan running in for the points.

On the half hour there was a consolation Sharks try by Andy Knight converted by Jackson but at 58-16 the Eagles knew they were in for a win.

 

In the final 5 minutes of the match a nice break by Sean Lovett on to Kent saw Cadywould receive the ball, sell a superb dummy and sidestep the opposition to score under the posts.  Just before referee Chris Symonds blew for time, slick interpassing along the Eagles line found Lovett ready to touch down in the far corner, but the difficult conversion fell short and the Eagles came away with a 68-16 victory.

 

Darren Bowden made an extraordinary amount of hard yards throughout the game playing as prop and the sterling defence of Wilson, Damen and Hooper all helped the Eagles in this victory.

 

Man of the Match went to Mark Wathes for his leadership and control around the park which led to many of the Eagles tries.

 

Eagles tries:  Melbourne, Westlake, Wathes (2) Kent, Damen (2) McCarthy, Cadywould (2) Morgan, Lovett.

 
Conversions:  Cadywould (10)

 

Eagles Squad:  Garry Hooper, Jascha Saeck, Paul Morgan, Ben Damen, Nathan Budd, Rich Cadywould, Mark Wathes, Darren Bowden, Dave McCarthy, Andy Melbourne, Jack Westlake, Mike Wilson, Paul Flower, Andy Lendon, Luke Kent, Shaun Lovett