Crediton 43 v Sherborne 26

THE reverse fixture back in October looked a fairly comfortable victory for Crediton Rugby Club with a 40-7 scoreline, but to be fair to Sherborne looked a far better side than their league position suggests.

The game on Saturday produced another try bonus victory and yet once again, the visitors defied their lowly position with a performance that certainly kept us on our toes. The home support were all set for a cricket score having seen a 21 point lead built in as many minutes and there was certainly no indication as to what would follow.

In front of a large crowd Crediton were on the offensive from the start and went through many good phases of play, fully testing out the Sherborne defence.

The breakthrough came after just 10 minutes when a clearance kick by the Sherborne defence was fielded, in his own half, by fullback Josh Davey who ran the ball back strongly deep into the Sherborne half before being tackled.

The ball was quickly recycled and put through several pairs of hands to Chris Courtier who broke through a tackle and raced in from 40 metres out for a try, with Ollie Avery Wright adding the extras.

Continued pressure on the Sherborne defence soon brought a second score after 14 minutes.

A good line-out ball, won by Dan Lee, on the visitors “22” enabling the forwards to set up a strong driving maul which was eventually pulled down by the Sherborne defence close to the try line and the Referee had no hesitation in awarding a Penalty Try for a 14-0 lead.

Three minutes later the lead was increased further although this time it was perhaps against the run of play.

Sherborne were finding a bit of possession building some good phases of play. However, on the half way line when a pass didn’t go hand, Ollie Avery Wright quickly pounced on the loose ball and ran in unopposed from 30 metres for a try, adding the extras himself.

A total of 21 points in the space of seven minutes, whilst certainly impressive seemed only to motivate Sherborne and they found their feet and put us under pressure, they had nothing to lose and it certainly paid off as they reduced the arrears on the half-hour when they broke through the defence to score a well deserved try, the conversion succeeded and they were seemingly back in the game.

Crediton did respond almost immediately when the visitors were penalised and Ollie Avery Wright took the three points. Nevertheless, the final word of the half went to Sherborne. Winning their lineout on Crediton’s “22," they moved the ball wide before finding their fullback who ran a good angle and cut through to score, another successful conversion and at half time the lead had bee whittled down to ten points.

HALF TIME:  Crediton 24 - Sherborne 14

Crediton began the second half in similar fashion to the first and, following a series of phases in midfield, Ollie Avery Wright put in a deft cross-field kick which found winger Devon Hosegood who in turn made ground before putting centre Ben Wonnacott in for a try, the conversion drifted wide.

Both sides were finding holes in each others defence and almost immediately Sherborne struck back.

A lineout on Crediton’s five metre line was won by them and a driving maul saw them over for a score which was not converted.

From the restart, Sherborne attempted to clear their lines but Josh Pearce followed up very quickly and charged the kick down, he reacted and collected the loose ball before putting prop Macauley Jones away to race in for his maiden First XV try, Ollie Avery Wright converted.

On the hour mark, a penalty to the corner gave us a platform for try number six, winning the lineout the ball went out quickly to Ben Wonnacott whose pace proved to hot for the Sherborne defence as he went over for his second of the afternoon. Ollie Avery Wright converted to put the game beyond reach.

However, Sherborne had the final word when their number eight picked up from the base of a scrum to crash over for a converted try and a well deserved try bonus point. 

FINAL SCORE: Crediton 43 - Sherborne 26

Another comprehensive performance from the Crediton players with their 11th try bonus point win of the season, against a very competitive Sherborne side who at times showed glimpses of what a dangerous team they could be.

Jeff Bowers

Newcross 14 - Crediton Quins 49

Another try bonus point win for the Quins saw them move to the top of the league with OPM losing at Tiverton. Crediton are level on points but with a game in hand and with OPM to play in Plymouth on February 18.

The scoreline looks pretty comfortable but that would be doing the home side an injustice as they battled to the end making us work hard for every point.

Playing up the slope in the first half Crediton had to defend a period of sustained pressure from the home side.

Once Crediton worked their way up field, Matt Pearce went over for the opening try with Tom Ronchetti adding the extras.

It did not take long for a second score to come, this time centre Josh Goldman nipped through the home defence to score with Ronchetti making it another seven pointer.

Hooker Henry Roberts was next on the scoresheet as he was on the end of a neat passing move and broke a tackle to touch down. Ronchetti converting.

Crediton were not having things their own way and Newcross made full use of one or two big players which at times Crediton struggled to deal with and they grabbed a converted try.

However, it was not long before Roberts was on hand again to crash over and Ronchetti converting.

The final word of the half went to the hosts who, with a fair weight advantage had put pressure on Crediton’s scrum for much of the half and whilst they coped, there were times when the scrum creaked and wobbled and they bagged their second try, the conversion made it 28-14 at the interval.

Crediton found themselves under huge pressure at the start of the second half but the defence was outstanding, both sides were putting in some huge tackles as the game reached a stalemate for a time.

However, fitness was beginning to tell as Newcross began to tire and the gaps appeared.

The pace of Josh Atkinson, Bobby Jenkin and Tom Ronchetti exploited them as they each touched down, Ronchetti landed the conversions for an impressive 100 per cent strike record for the game.

Both sides contributed to an entertaining game and deserve credit for the manner and spirit in which the game was played.

Crediton Thirds 12 - Honiton Seconds 24

This was a game that epitomised the genuine camaraderie of clubs at grassroots level when Honiton arrived with 10 players and Crediton loaned them four to play 14 a-side.

With the likes of Wayne Reed, together with his son Jack making their debuts for Honiton, the visitors ultimately proved too strong.

Another Honiton debutant was Scott Baker who bagged a couple of tries which was the difference between defeat and victory.

However, the result was not particularly relevant, it was the fact that 30 players had a game of rugby whereas had Honiton taken the easy option and not travelled, those 30 would not have known what to do on a Saturday afternoon.

Thank you the Honiton 10, hope you all enjoyed the game.

For the Thirds, prop Dan Vertenten and scrum-half Elliot White scored the tries with Owen Cooper adding a conversion.

Ivybridge Colts 42 - Crediton Colts 24

Ivybridge are undoubtedly the favourites to win the Colts Cup and of course the 4G pitch is always a huge advantage for them.

This was a creditable performance from Crediton Colts, against a side that has lost only once this season.

Certainly no other side has put four tries past them on their own patch and the players can be justifiably proud of their performance.

Try scorers were Charlie Gribble, Euan Philip, Marli Maddick and Tariq Sayers with James Dodge adding a couple of conversions.

It was really good to get four games in on the Saturday, we certainly can’t afford to have any more postponements with hectic Cup Competitions looming from mid March.

On Saturday, February 4 the First XV will host Bridgwater in the league game rescheduled from December 10.

The Quins have no game whilst the Thirds and Colts are at home against Tiverton and Newton Abbot respectively.

Paul Harris