Chiefs win final home match of the season

Match Report: Exeter victorious over Bristol

Exeter Chiefs won the last home match of the season by one point after a tentative home victory against Bristol Bears.

The west-country clash, the last dance for many at Sandy Park as Exeter Chiefs welcomed rivals Bristol Bears for the final home match of the season. Emotions were running high inside of the ground as nine players bid farewell to the record-breaking packed Exeter ground. The exodus of players showed no sign of slowing down throughout the season. Unprecedented times for the Chiefs as their modern dominance lost its backbone at the very Stadium where those Premiership narratives were first established. 

The first few minutes were scrappy, the blustery conditions made it difficult for both sides maintain the possession- lots of broken passes were made. Exeter then went on to contest the rucks well, turning the ball over and preventing any dangerous Bristol attacks. 

Exeter player Dafydd Jenkins was shown a red card for a high hit on a Bristol player, making it back-to-back red cards in consecutive games for the Chiefs. The vulnerability of 14 men gifted the Bears a tap-and go which resulted in a try. However, constant pressure from the Chiefs resulted in a well- deserved equaliser-courtesy of Ian Whitten, in his final match at Sandy Park, who busted through and touched down, in his last game here at Sandy Park. 

From this, Exeter (even with a man down) found their rhythm. The home crowd were tumultuous throughout, every break an uproar was conceived. To the delight of the fans, the tenacious Chiefs side scored another try, right on the brink of half-time, increasing the advantage to Exeter 12, Bristol 7. 

After the break the Bears came out looking like a different side from the lethargic performance in the final 15 minutes of the first half.  It didn’t take long for the away side to get their mojo back and Bristol managed to get a try back thanks to Joe Jenkins who converted it making Exeter’s job harder. 

The pressure that Exeter showed in the first half seemed to have slowed down in the early stages of the second, a line-out maul, followed by multiple thrusts at the Exeter’s line rewarded Bristol with a try, extending their advantage even further. 

Despite Exeter’s stuttering start and the miserable weather, the Chiefs scored a try following a mistake from Bristol Bears and with five minutes left on the clock, only three points separated the two sides. 

The record-breaking crowd of 14,457 were getting right behind the team, the atmosphere was electric and forcing acute errors into Bristol’s game. And is if it was written in a script, fly-half Joe Simmons converted a penalty kick to give Exeter the lead by one point and win the match in his last ever home game.

Attendance: 14,457