It wasn’t to be for EURFC on Wednesday night, as Cardiff Met proved too strong at Cyncoed, consigning Exeter to a 36-14 defeat.

It was a first half onslaught from the hosts that did the damage, with braces from Roma Zheng and Will Rigg, as well as a further try from Bingo Ivanisevic doing the damage.

A shellshocked EURFC eventually got on the board through Milo Hallam at the end of the first half, with a Chris Moore try at the start of the second half further reducing the deficit.

Despite those scores, a second half penalty from Brad Roderick-Evans made sure that the game remained out of reach for Exeter, as they had to settle for second place in the league.

Following victory over Hartpury the week before, EURFC were forced into several changes due to injury.

In the early exchanges, it was EURFC who had the upper hand, as the pack won an early scrum penalty against the head. The lineout though, let Exeter down and from there, Met began to turn the screw.

With EURFC looking to play from deep, a knock-on gifted the hosts with a gilt-edged opportunity to open the scoring.

The hosts would make no mistake from the resulting scrum, with Iwan Shenton breaking from the base and scrum half Keiean Richards feeding Zheng to race over out wide.

EURFC were desperate to keep the pressure on and again continued to look to play from deep. Met though were still putting the pressure on and, when a stray pass seemed to almost stop mid-flight, Met centre Rigg was just unable to gather, sparing Exeter’s blushes.

Exeter were creating opportunities, as they looked to wrestle their way back into the match, but a misfunctioning set-piece would prove to be EURFC’s achilles heel.

Met though were in no mood to let Exeter off the hook, as they continued to press and probe. Zheng was again finding space down the left-hand side. Whilst Exeter were able to force a turnover, Met were soon in for their second of the evening, as Rigg barrelled over from close range, after spotting a gap in the Exeter defensive line.

Just two minutes later, EURFC were again standing under the posts, after Zheng popped up in midfield and ran in after Exeter had slipped off a tackle.

Met were rampant now and their bonus-point try came shortly after the half hour mark, after a break from Jack Silvester had again taken play back into the Exeter 22.

From there, the hosts made no mistake, as Rigg crashed over for his second close range try.

At the restart, Exeter finally managed to get their hands on the ball, winning a penalty at the breakdown. The kick to touch though went dead and Met were then able to work their way back up the field after securing a penalty from the scrum.

The pain didn’t stop there for Exeter either, as the hosts continued to find space at will, before Ivanisevic burst over under the posts.

With time ticking away at the end of the first half, Exeter finally managed to get their hands on the ball in the Met 22 for the first time in the match.

An industrious carry from the returning Archie Hosking finally gave Exeter some momentum for the first time in the match, with Hallam eventually diving over out wide to get EURFC on the board.

HALF-TIME SCORE: CARDIFF MET 33-7 EXETER UNIVERSITY

EURFC made a double change at the start of the half, as they looked to inject some pace and momentum into the match.

Whilst they finally managed to get their hands on the ball, they were still being forced to attack from deep, with Max Bliss and Arthur Relton having to work to create space from deep in their own 22.

Chances were now coming for EURFC though and, after captain Olly White had claimed a high ball, Exeter slowly built the phases close to the line, allowing Moore to dive over for his side’s second try.

Straight from the restart though, Met were looking threatening again, with Roderick-Evans slotting a penalty to keep the scoreboard ticking over for his side.

With the rain lashing down, both sides looked for metres in attack, but they were beginning to become hard to come by, with the ball starting to slip and slide around.

With little under 20 minutes to go, Exeter put themselves in position to attack the Met line, but as in the first half, the set-piece would come back to haunt them.

As time ticked away, EURFC continued to look for an opening, but each time they did, handling or discipline let them down.

In the end, the match finished with a Met penalty, as Roderick-Evans lined up the posts. Whilst his kick drifted wide, the match was long since over as a contest.
For Exeter, the challenge now is to regroup and build into the cup knockouts, with a huge clash against Hartpury now just two weeks away.