Attack Stunted as Cardiff Met Take the Points

Exeter started the match the stronger, building phases in the Cardiff Met half, before a stray pass allowed Tom Pearson to intercept and burst clear. Despite a strong hit from returning winger Matt Blee that forced his opposite man into touch, Cardiff Met asserted themselves territorially without ever really relenting. After Cameron Bullard was penalised for straying offside, centre Harry Johnston opened the hosts account for the afternoon.

Minutes later, Met had another opportunity, Exeter’s indiscipline again costing them. After a huge effort from the pack managed to hold the ball up over the line, fullback Charlie Davies showed his supreme ability in the air, plucking a cross-field kick aimed for Cunnington out of the air, denying the winger a walk-in to the line.

On 18 minutes, Exeter finally gained some territory in the Cardiff Met 22 following a superb box-kick from Will Yarnell. After a knock-on at the lineout from Met, Exeter drew a penalty at the scrum, fly-half Harry Bazalgette adding a simple penalty to level the scores at three apiece.
Straight from the restart, Exeter coughed up possession as the chasing players strayed offside following a box-kick from Yarnell. This allowed Cardiff Met to regain the lead through Johnston with a simple penalty from thirty metres. The game continued, with play centring between the 10m lines, before a huge scrum from the hosts drew another penalty which Johnston duly converted, opening up a 9-3 advantage.

Cardiff Met extended their advantage further four minutes later with the first try of the game. After a hard carry from fullback Andrew Nurse, winger Max Cunnington stepped his way out of several would-be tackles, bursting clear into the Exeter 22. Despite the best efforts of Arthur Relton to pull him down metres from the line, he had the presence of mind to offload to his tracking player, centre Bingo Ivanisevic who dotted down out wide. Even though Johnston’s kick drifted wide, Met opened up a 14-3 advantage built upon ferocious defence that strangled the Exeter side.

In the aftermath of the score, Pietro Di-Chio replaced Will Yarnell at sceum-half, before Exeter finally got a chance in the Cardiff Met half with the last play of the first 40. Following a trademark break from centre Joe Elderkin, Charlie Wright popped up on his inside, feeding back-row partner Cameron Bullard who showed a remarkable turn of pace, eventually being hauled down metres from the try-line. From there Exeter went through their phases, picking and going around the fringes before being held up over the line.

It summed up a half where Met successfully stifled Exeter’s attack, limiting any real attacking opportunities for the men in green.

Exeter started the second half on the front foot, putting Met under pressure in their 22. After Bazalgette and Elderkin combined well in midfield, before a daisy-cutter of a pass to Davies killed the attack. On 58 minutes, Exeter finally breached the Met defensive wall, replacement George Strainge crashing over after a trademark series of short carries from the forwards. Bazalgette’s conversion from in front of the sticks cut the score to 14-10. Exeter were unable to push on though, as Cardiff Met’s scrummaging prowess continued to blunt any Exeter positivity. It was through the power of the scrum that Met extended their advantage in the 75th minute after their scrum sent Exeter flying backwards at a rate of knots.

Three minutes later, Exeter were the architects of their own downfall as Joe Elderkin spilled a simple pass in midfield. Met’s scrum again shunted the Exeter pack backwards, drawing the penalty and allowing Harry Johnston a shot from halfway. The centre used up every inch of his range, as the ball crept over the crossbar to extend the advantage to 10.

As the clock ticked beyond the 80 minutes, Cardiff Met were penalised for holding on, allowing Exeter one last opportunity to try to secure a losing bonus point. Despite again going through several phases of attacking, including a cheeky dart down the blindside from Di-Chio, Met’s positive aggression in defence came to the fore for one last time, securing a turnover to seal the victory.

It was a clinical performance from Cardiff Met who were good value for their victory having controlled possession and territory throughout. Such was the dominance of their scrum and the ferocity of their work at the breakdown that they stifled Exeter of any real attacking opportunities. Exeter will now be seeking a huge response next week at home to Cardiff University in their final match before Varsity against Loughborough.