After a long season and many a long away trip, the final one finally arrived for the boys of EURFC. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be a happy one as they were resoundingly beaten by already crowned league champions, Leicester Lions.

Proceedings didn’t start in the best way for the green army as just 5 minutes in they found themselves 7 points down. After a solid defensive set, too many players got sucked in around the ruck, clearing space on the wing. A break in this area was too easy, and a grateful Stubbs received a pass back on the inside for the try.

However, the first half was a close game, which could have seen either side push on. Exeter had a 10-minute spell, hammering the Lions’ line however, time and time again they were repelled. The closest they came was an Elliot Young drive, the hooker clearly held up over the line.

Just a few minutes later though, the dam did break, although not through the forwards. Following some phase play on the edge of the 22, fly-half Jack Park called for the ball. An outrageous dummy and a clean pair of heels later and he was away. Exeter was on the scoreboard and looked like the stronger side for much of the first half.

Despite the Park score, it always felt like Exeter’s clinicality would come back to hurt them at some point, and with just 2 minutes till the break it did. From a 5m lineout, Lions dummied the maul, popping the ball to Cairns, who crashed over from short range.

A perhaps quite undeserving scoreline against Exeter, however, they had proven their quality and that they had a hold in the game.

HALF TIME SCORE: LEICESTER LIONS 14 – 5 EXETER UNIVERSITY

Despite a big second-half performance needed to turn the deficit around, things started as they did in the first half. Winger, Constant, was found in plenty of space on the left wing and attempted an audacious chip chase. He dinked the covering Alex Gozzard, re-gathered his own kick, and dotted down in the corner.

This set the tone for much of the second period, with injuries and fitness beginning to make their mark.

Another kick was the making of the Lions’ fourth and bonus point score. This time a grubber through from the fly-half was perfectly weighted behind the main Exeter line. Hamilton was the first to reach the ball, diving on it to push the lead to 23.

With a huge injury crisis going around the club now, and a big match on Wednesday, one thing we did not want was anymore side-lined players. However, rugby plays by its own rules. With as many as 5 players going off injured. This left 4 props and 3 hookers dotted around the pitch in various positions as the full-time whistle blew.

With Exeter’s makeshift backline, it was only inevitable that they would struggle defensively. Space once again opened in the outside channel for the hosts, with this time Constant the recipient. The winger just got the ball down in the corner for his 2nd try of the game.

They weren’t done there as with 5 minutes to go they completed their second-half romp with a fourth try. This time the other winger, Bean, counter-attacked from within his own half finding space out wide. Playing a 1-2 on the inside was all that was needed for him to score.

FULL TIME SCORE: LEICESTER LIONS 40 – 5 EXETER UNIVERSITY

The result was not what we had hoped, however, as the season comes towards a close, we can look back on a successful campaign for a newly promoted side. There are still two more games coming up for this group of players, with the next coming in just 7 days’ time. A home fixture against local rivals Barnstable is bound to be a cracker of a match.