Saturday, February 6
Torrington 13
Crediton 12
THIS was the first occasion that the two clubs had met at First Fifteen level and it proved a hugely disappointing experience for us and certainly knocked a big dent in our promotion hopes.
It was indeed a poor performance against a side who have proved difficult to beat on their own ground but nonetheless we should have been able to beat them.
Things looked relatively comfortable when we went into a 12 point lead courtesy of a Rob Milton try wide out which was quickly followed by a penalty try when centre Matt Walton was taken out off the ball in a chase for a chip through, Milton landed the conversion.
Torrington refused to buckle under the pressure and gradually clawed their way back into the game, reducing the arrears with a penalty.
They were really back in it when they opted to run a penalty in front of our posts and for the second time in recent games we were caught napping as the scrum half forced his way over. The conversion cut the difference to two points.
The pitch at Torrington has a very pronounced slope and the second half looked as though it would be difficult for the home side to compete playing up it.
Unfortunately, it was our performance that went downhill from that point.
The home side seemed quicker to the ball, we were getting turned over in midfield and generally found it almost impossible to put phases together.
Ill discipline meant 20 minutes with only 14 men on the field which certainly did not help our cause. Despite that the only way Torrington would have scored was through penalties.
We did have two opportunities to score when centre Mike Pearce made one of his trademark breaks which have so often borne fruit in games this season.
Unfortunately his pass was dropped when we were in a good position.
A second chance came when centre Matt Walton almost broke through but was kept out just short of the line. In the end it was Torrington who got the only score of the second half from a well taken penalty to give them a single point victory.
This was the surprise result of the day and one of the biggest shocks in the league during the season.
The players know full well that they did not perform to anything like their ability and the result has left us with much to do and also reliant upon other sides doing favours.
'Quins
Crediton Quins 32
Cullompton Seconds 26
The 'Quins bounced back from their defeat at Paignton with an excellent victory over high flying Cullompton. The game produced some end to end rugby with the lead changing hands several times. The result was always in doubt right to the final whistle.
Hornets
Cullompton Thirds 43 Crediton Hornets 5
The Hornets travelled to Cully with only 11 players and their number were swelled to 14 when their hosts loaned them three more.
Despite playing a man short throughout, the Hornets put up a spirited performance with Ed Haggar gaining a consolation try.
Colts
Okehampton Colts 34 Crediton Colts 20
It is a great shame that the Colts have been unable to field any of their players with representative honours for almost the entire season.
Okey are currently favourites for the runners up spot and are indeed a good side.
However, it is very much a case of what might have been if those players were available to us on a more regular basis.
Even so there were occasions when the Crediton side looked as though they were in with a chance of a surprise result but in the end the home side ran out winners in a game that was probably closer than the scoreline suggests.
Saturday, February 13
Crediton 26
OPM's 0
A return to winning ways was indeed most welcome although the performance may not have been totally convincing.
Having scored over 50 points away at OPM earlier in the season, a similar score was hoped for.
However, the visitors were a much improved side and certainly dominated the opening quarter.
Once again we were unable to get hands on the ball for long periods. The lineouts were very disfunctional particularly in the early stages and we seemed to take some time to get into the game.
It took 25 minutes to get the scoreboard moving and our first try was probably somewhat against the run of play.
However a good driving maul got the forwards over the line with No 8 Jay Harris getting the touch down.
Scrum half Tom Ronchetti landed the extras. The rest of the half was pretty dour although a couple of attempts to get winger Matt Shapland clear on the left almost worked out.
Things did begin to get better as the second half wore on and the score was doubled when Harris again touched down this time from a pushover. Ronchetti added an excellent conversion from wide out.
The introduction of replacement George Savage into the back row added a bit of pace to our game and he was soon in the thick of things with a tremendous break down the right, with support there in numbers, the ball went out wide to the left for Shapland to go over in the corner.
We then almost totally dominated proceedings as the visiting pack struggled in the set scrums and it was no surprise when Harris completed his hat-trick with another pushover try to which Ronchetti added the extra points.
'Quins
Crediton 'Quins 17
Sidmouth Seconds 23
Another closely fought encounter for the 'Quins but ending in disappointment as they went down against a much improved Sidmouth side.
Hornets
Crediton Hornets 19
Sidmouth Thirds 14
A great fightback by the Hornets after going fourteen points down at half-time.
However, tries from Mark Allder, A Dunc and Barney Butterfield plus two conversions from Jo Rogers sealed a well earned Merit Table win.
Colts
Sidmouth Colts 5
Crediton Colts 41
The Colts bounced back from a couple of disappointing results with an excellent win away at Sidmouth.
Forthcoming Fixtures
February 20: First Fifteen v Plymstock; 'Quins v Barnstaple; Hornets away at Barnstaple; Colts v Barnstaple.
February 27: 'Quins away at Brixham; Hornets away at Ilfracombe; Colts at Home against Exeter.
PH