Saturday, October 3

WITH Wellington boasting a 100 per cent record and sitting at the top of the table, we knew that this would be a tough encounter. However, a much improved performance from the previous week ensured that we ran them close and indeed should, in all honesty, have won the game.

Once again the pack totally destroyed the Wellington eight who, even with the prescence of former Gloucester, Exeter and England lock Dave Sims, were in disarray from the first scrum to the last.

Unfortunately, on occasions they did manage to get the ball away and their backs looked sharp. That said, the majority of their put-ins at the scrum ended up with them going backwards even when the ball was going straight to the second row!

In addition the law about scrums wheeling 90 degrees seems to have been largely ignored these days, otherwise we would have gained even more dominance.

Against the run of play, the home side gained an early 10-0 lead with a penalty followed by a well worked try which exposed a gap in our midfield allowing their centre to go in at the posts for a simple conversion.

That was after some early pressure on their line which bore no fruit. Playing up the slope we began to put some phases together although the ball was generally slow and again we are being penalised for dipping hands in the ruck although in fairness we felt that what we were doing was legal.

Eventually though we did get the ball out wide and centre Mike Pearce put co centre Matt Walton away and he brushed off a couple of tackles to score. Rob Miltons' conversion struck the post.

Within minutes we took advantage of a scrum five metres off theWellington line and as No 8 Jay Harris was about to make the final touch, the home flanker slipped his bind and casually came through to kick the ball away.

The official had no option but to award a penalty try which Rob Milton converted for a 12-10 lead. Having played the half against the slope and breeze it would have been wise to run down the clock for the remaining few minutes of the half.

Sadly, having gained a penalty in our own half, it was decided to run the ball and possession was lost. To add insult to injury, we conceded a penalty which they converted, handing them the advantage and momentum on the half-time whistle.

There really should have been only one winner in the second half as we now had the advantage of the slope. Getting the ball down into their '22' should have been the prime objective.

Sadly our kicking from hand was to say the least poor. Milton had a penalty and drop goal attempt both of which struck the posts. The game became a midfield battle with Wellington gaining the solitary score of the half with a penalty.

We were simply unable to force play into the right areas i.e. their '22' in order to apply pressure.

Another game lost by a score or less but hopefully a lesson learned.

'Quins

Torquay Seconds 19

Crediton 'Quins 0

The 'Quins travelled to Torquay with a severely depleted side but put up a decent display against a Torquay side whose First Fifteen play two leagues higher. We were forced to defend for most of the game but did have our moments in attack and got over the Torquay line a couple of times but were not able to ground the ball.

Colts

Honiton Colts 7

Crediton Colts 14

Despite having over 20 players not available, the Colts proved their strength in depth with a hard fought battle at Honiton to keep their momentum going in the Merit Table. Honiton are not a bad side and will give most teams a few problems.

Saturday, October 10

 Crediton 22

Hayle 7

Author Robert Louis Stevenson could well have used this game as the basis for his story of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for this was indeed a performance that resembled a split personality. In the first half we saw everything that was good in the game, slick handling, pace and power but in the second it was the complete reverse. Whether or not this was due to lotions and potions applied or taken at the interval will no doubt remain a mystery.

From the word go we set about the Hayle defence in a way not really seen so early in a game during the season and the tactic paid off as early as the seventh minute when No 8 George Savage collected a clearance kick and made good ground before offloading to centre Matt Walton who in turn broke a couple of tackles before putting scrum-half Dave Rich in for a try.

The lead was doubled on 18 minutes when right wing Matt Shapland popped up in the centre and outpaced the visitors defence to score in the left corner.

He then had a hand in the third try after 23 minutes when he ran at the defence before neatly chipping over the top, flanker Peter Cann was first there to collect and score at the posts. Rob Milton adding the extras.

Hayle then enjoyed a period of pressure but found our defence in uncompromising mood and were unable to make any ground.

As the interval approached we returned to the running style of rugby that had been so effective during the opening quarter and it was Shapland who was on the end of a flowing move to score out wide.

It certainly seemed that with the right type of rugby we would open up the Hayle defence for a few more tries in the second half.

Unfortunately, it was not to be as the visitors retained possession for long periods and when we did get our hands on the ball errors began to creep into our game. There was little of note from our perspective during the entire half, the scrum was under a bit of pressure and the handling skills of the first half almost totally deserted us in the second.

Whilst Hayle never seemed likely to get four scores in the half, they did produce the one bright spot or rather their fly half Liam Kearey did, when he jinked his way through from 20 metres to score under the posts leaving No 8 Scott Powell a simple conversion.

The game did prove that at times we can play effective rugby with the ball in hand and whilst it is difficult to sustain it for the entire game it should not be too much to hope that we could manage to play that way beyond half time.

Four good tries were scored all coming from that style of rugby and if we can get the ball away from the scrum a little quicker then with the pace of the two Matts, Walton and Shapland, there is no doubt we could open up defences.

'Quins

Crediton 'Quins 24

Tiverton Seconds 17

The old football cliché a game of two halves certainly sprang to mind as the 'Quins eventually held out to gain a rare but nonetheless deserved win against Tiverton Second's.

We led 21-7 at the interval courtesy of tries from Stuart Pickard, Chris Hooper and Sam Millar all converted by Dan Howard.

Tivvy came back in the second half and it was left to Howard to land a penalty to steady the ship.

Hornets

Tiverton Thirds 13

Crediton Thirds 24

The Hornets made it three wins in the Merit Table from four games with this win at Tiverton.

Graham Searle grabbed his third try in as many games with No 8 Blue Hachipuka also touching down.

Barny Butterfield filling in at fly-half landed four penalties and a conversion to complete the scoring.

Colts

Tiverton Colts 8

Crediton Colts 15

The Colts ensured a clean sweep for the day despite having so many regulars out through injury and a number of players playing out of position. Tiverton are a vastly improved side from last season and we were forced to battle hard for the win.

Three excellent tries from Jack Hookway, Tom Foan and Abe Beale whose score came from a superb handling move involving almost the entire team before his finely judged opened things up for the score.

Forthcoming fixtures

October 17: Liskeard Looe v Crediton First Fifteen (C and D); Crediton Seconds v Paignton Seconds (DMT One); Wessex Seconds v Crediton Thirds (DMT 3NE); Exmouth Colts v Crediton Colts (MT).

October 24: OPM v Crediton First Fifteen (C and D); Sidmouth Seconds v Crediton Quins (DMT One); Sidmouth Thirds v Crediton Thirds (DMT 3NE); Crediton Colts v Sidmouth Colts (MT).

PH