Teams 
Under 12 Boys
With the park pitch out of action thanks to the weather, we were treated to the luxury of the Kingsley Astro as we welcomed South Molton. Historically, this fixture is always tight, physical, and generally bad for the nerves — and this one followed the script perfectly.
Warm-up didn’t exactly scream “we’re flying today” and when the coaching team glanced over at a very sharp-looking, well-drilled South Molton side, there was a brief moment of “oh… this could be a long morning.” Thankfully, that concern lasted about as long as it took for the game to kick off.
The first quarter was Bideford at their best. Tackling was strong, rucking was aggressive, ball speed from the breakdown was quick, and the width was used brilliantly. It was excellent to watch and left South Molton chasing shadows at times, earning us a deserved 2–0 lead at the end of the quarter.
As planned, we rang the changes for the second quarter which led the new players a tough job getting up to the speed of play. Unsurprisingly, this took a little time to settle. South Molton kept their intensity high while we struggled to match it, and the quarter belonged to them. Credit to the team, though — we dug in and somehow reached the third quarter only one score behind.
More changes followed for the third quarter and, reassuringly, some of our shape and rhythm returned. We looked stronger, more organised, and began to impose ourselves again, which saw us level the scores heading into the final quarter. Game on.
The final quarter was exactly what you’d expect from two evenly matched sides — physical, competitive, and not for the faint-hearted. We never quite rediscovered the slick shape of the opening quarter and conceded an early try, but the response was excellent. There was plenty of back-and-forth rugby, and with the very last play of the match we dragged the scores level — a much nicer ending than the away fixture, where we were on the wrong side of the final whistle drama.
This was a cracking game to watch and be part of. The coaching team were incredibly proud of the players, particularly for keeping their heads when things got tough — not always easy in a game that tested patience as much as skill.
Player of the Day was a real headache. Ronnie and Billy put in some huge carries and tackles, Charlie H was outstanding in defence and did great work at 9, and Freddie looked dangerous whenever he got the ball. In the end, Man of the Match went to Ross for his calm, controlled play at 10 in the second and third quarters, backed up by some strong tackling and carries elsewhere. Well deserved.
Next up, we face Ilfracombe and Torrington — hopefully two encounters that will give just as much enjoyment.
Under 13 Boys
10 of the best from the Under 13’s as they hosted Exeter Saracens at Kingsley on the 4G.
Final score Bideford 10 tries -Saracens 5
Both teams started strongly in defence with big tackles ensuring all players had to front up. The returning Alfie Jones opened the scoring for his first of 4 tries for the home side with a fine 50 metre run down the wing. Saracens then hit back immediately, numerous infringements from the Bideford side gave Saracens a tap and go penalty which was given to their big running prop who crashed over the even the scores. From then on Bideford started to show some class in attack with again Jones, Ball x 2, Robinson and Fuller all dotted down to give the home side a commanding 6-1 half time.
Second half Bideford struck immediately with Fuller making a dangerous run at the heart of the Saracens defence and then fed Robinson a perfectly timed pass to break away from the covering tackles to score a fine try.
Full credit to Saracens, many teams would of buckled at 7-1 down but they worked hard and with there newly introduced player looking like a formidable runner they went on to score the next three tries of the match.
Bideford regrouped and Jones again showed his class by scoring two fine tries before Saracens again hit back with another try of there own and Ball rounded off the scoring touching down in the corner, finishing off some fine passing from the Bideford players. Unfortunately the game was stopped a little early due to an injury to a Saracens player, all at Bideford wish him a speedy recovery.
Player of the day went to James Chessum, he tackled, rucked and ran brilliantly throughout the match.
Final score Bideford 10 tries -Saracens 5
Scores –
Alfie Jones x 4
Eben Ball x 3
Grifff Robinson x 2
Edgar Fuller
Under 12 Girls
U12 girls hosted a cluster with Barnstaple, South Molton and Crediton. Well done to the girls, lots of tackles/tries/passes and some much improved rucking.
Under 18 Girls
Sunday afternoon saw another fantastic performance from our U18 Girls , alongside our teammates from Exeter Saracens.
This weekend, the girls took on The Bridges — a strong combination of Kingsbridge & Ivybridge — with both sides near the top of the league it promised to be a close ang physical game.
The match more than lived up to expectations. The girls were outstanding throughout, showing real composure and resilience to edge a thrilling encounter 29–25, with the game unfortunately finishing slightly early due to injury.
The win sees the ‘Barries’ move to the top of the table with just two matchdays remaining. By our maths, this result, with the Bridges also picking up two bonus points, sets up a mouth-watering rematch between the two sides in the league final.
A huge achievement and a massive credit to everyone involved. Outstanding effort, girls!
Under 16 girls
Bideford Under 16’s girls took a break from their league matches to play a friendly away at South Molton.
Boasting a squad of 22 players, Bideford leant the opposition 4 to ensure we played a full match of 15 a side. The aim today was to have fun and give everyone some good game time, congrats go to Lucy Thomas and Bonnie Braddick who both played their first ever game of rugby, both got stuck in and Lucy made a few great runs down the wing.
Bideford really did play some good rugby and were showing all the hard work in training was paying off. Bideford kept possession for large parts of the match but did struggle to get over the line due to some outstanding tackling from the home side. Holly Bond, who had an outstanding game at centre, eventually broke the deadlock and scored a fine try running blind from the back of a scrum.7
South Molton however didn’t sit back and when they did have the ball in hand they looked dangerous and ran hard which resulted in them scoring two tries of their own before half time. If not for some fine tackling from full back Katie Donavan the home side could well of been much further ahead.
Second half and with some changes in personnel, Bideford were determined- immediately from the kick off Esmae Cowle made an brilliant break from her own half only to be stopped by a fine tackle 5 metres out, thankfully Esmie Peacock was on hand to take a brilliant off load and score a great try that levelled the score and Thea Northcotte converted to give Bideford a 12-10 lead. With their tails up Bideford then camped in the South Molton half for the remainder of the match, Scums were looking solid and Bideford were rucking really well. Holly Bond eventually added another try to take the score the 17-10 and that’s how the game ended. Special mention to Lucy Steggles who led the forwards, tackled, rucked and scrummaged brilliantly, Katie had another top defensive game at full back however the main player of the match went to Holly for great running in attack, tackling anything in her channel and scoring two fine tries.
