Unbeaten Exeter go it alone as big guns falter
LAST season Leeds Beckett played 14, lost 14 while Cardiff Met and Northumbria had little to shout about with seven collective wins.
Fast forward to the completion of Round 5 and all three find themselves in the top four riding the crest of a wave called momentum.
The only side sticking to the script are Exeter who extended their unbeaten start to the season to four games with victory over arch rivals Hartpury College in Wednesday’s early kick off at Topsham.
Aquile Smith and Sal M’Boge traded unconverted tries with a Ted Landray penalty separating the sides 8-5.
A red mist then descended, consuming the Devon outfit. A converted try for Harry Wilson was swiftly followed by one for Harry Agnew and soon the bonus point was in the bag courtesy of Smith’s second and Hartpury were rampant leading 27-8.
Hartpury earned three yellow cards, conceded a penalty try and ultimately turned the tide on themselves. Mike Haines and Max Himbury crossed to level the game, before Callum Young took the lead with Landray enhancing.
Hartpury replied through an unconverted Elias Cavan try, but Exeter finally hammered the door shut via Kieran Kelly with the conversion taking the final score to 41-32.
Another man pondering the free scoring nature of BUCS is Aaron James who saw his Bath team fall to Northumbria 39-27. Bath were in contention throughout but once again couldn’t find the lethal injection to see Northumbria off who grew into the game.
Bath led 24-21 at halftime through tries from Michael Snook, Tom Doughty and Scott Russel but a big second half from Northumbria overwhelmed ‘The Brothers’. George Wacokecoke, James Ross and Michael Newstead tries were overshadowed by James Christie who scored a hat trick as the men in black romped home.
A short hop across the Severn, Cardiff Met went about cementing their status as a contender versus a
Durham side who dominated possession but left with nothing.
A tight game saw Cardiff Met race into the lead courtesy of Dawid Rubasniak, Harvey Scott and Tom Morgan who didn’t miss a kick all night. Durham came back through three Tom Catterick penalties to close the half 19-9 down, and asserted themselves from the off in the second drawing level with a penalty and a converted Harry Baron try.
Met found another gear. They had a match winner in Morgan who nervelessly hammered four penalties through the middle of the posts on a breathless night in Cardiff to clinch the game 31-22 to deny Durham a losing bonus point.
The final clash of a busy BUCS day concluded in Loughborough with the home side shocked by Leeds Beckett. The away side led 12-7 at the break with tries from Jonny Teague and Johan Visser sandwiching that of Loughborough’s Cam Dobinson.
Loughborough fought back to lead through Max Hill and Tom Ffitch tries with one converted. Beckett had one solitary Sam Fox penalty to show for the half but in the game’s last play the visitors showed the desire that has informed their season. The pack rumbled over with Tu’ipulotu Nuku claiming the try and a famous 19-20 win.