Baxter has mixed emotions after narrow cup defeat

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admitted he was left with "mixed emotions" after seeing his slip to a narrow 9-6 defeat against Leinster in their first-ever Heineken Cup fixture.

Pitted in the so-called 'Group of Death' against the reigning champions, French giants Clermont Auvergne and Welsh region Scarlets, the Chiefs came within a whisker of snatching a share of the spoils in their debut outing.

Exeter's Argentine fly-half Ignacio Mieres had the opportunity to ensure a draw with the very last kick of the game, but sadly his penalty from just shy of 50 metres drifted wide of the mark.

It was a bitter pill for the Devonians to swallow, particularly as they had contributed so much against their more illustrious hosts, but Baxter was quick to salute the effort of all his players.

"There were large parts of our display which were very, very good," he said. "When you play pretty well, and you come pretty close, it is disappointing not to finish the job off.

"We talk every week about performances, and if you put one in, you are going to be there or thereabouts, and we were today. We came up a little bit short, and sometimes you have just got to take that on the chin."

Had Mieres' last-gasp effort found its way over, few inside the RDS could have complained about Exeter's end reward. As it turned out, however, the Aviva Premiership club had to settle for a creditable losing bonus point.

For the full story go to www.exeterchiefs.co.uk