CREDITON 74

EXETER SARACENS 5

AS the scoreline suggests, Crediton dominated this local derby encounter, on Saturday, March 22, from start to finish, leaving Saracens' with something of a headache as they are dragged closer to the relegation places.

The home pack were far too strong for the Sarries eight and the backs looked capable of scoring every time they attacked.

The tries came at regular intervals and the bonus point try came within 22 minutes.

Lock, Declan McDonnell, grabbed the first two on five and 12 minutes, the first from a driving maul and the second when he picked up a loose ball and drove over.

Three minutes later it was centre, Chris Simpson, who jinked his way over at the posts for co-centre, Mark Lee to, convert.

Sarries did strike back almost immediately when they caught Crediton napping and a great run from powerful centre, Tom Cowley, breached the home defence and winger, Joe Street, was in support to race over in the corner.

That was about as good as it got for the visitors especially when full-back, Tom Rushton, was yellow carded for failing to release at the tackle.

Crediton opted for the scrum and No 8, Mark Nott, picked up and forced his way over Lee converted.

Crediton then had Nott and flanker, Ben Wonnacott, sin-binned in quick succession, both for unfair tackles.

However, the numerical disadvantage did not stem the flow of tries and it was fly-half, Stuart Pickard, who neatly picked his way through the defence to score, with Lee adding the extras.

Prop, Dan Manns, was next on the scoresheet when another quickly taken tap penalty ended saw him glide over the line, Lee again converting.

The second half saw the hosts playing with the breeze and it did not take long for the tries to continue to flow.

Simpson grabbed his second after some good handling and Lee converted.

Wonnacott then made a superb 40 metre break up the right touchline and managed to offload to Nott who crashed over.

Lee then broke through the visitors defence and was tackled at the line but managed to stretch out for a try.

Hooker, Bobby Mogford, scored from a well-rehearsed lineout move and again Lee converted.

Lee again broke the Sarries' defence before putting Simpson away for his third try before Nott had the final word with his hat-trick try as he powered through tackles.

Lee converted for the last action of the game.

Scorers: Crediton – tries: Simpson (3), Nott (3), McDonnell (2), Lee, Mogford, Manns, Pickard; Conversion: Lee (7).

Exeter Saracens – try: Street.

'QUINS

Crediton Seconds took a break from league rugby and entertained Bude Seconds in a friendly fixture.

Unfortunately for Bude their hosts were not in an hospitable mood and within the first minute of play fly-half, Rob Milton, finished off a good backs move with a try, converted by centre, Tom Ronchetti.

This set the tone for the first half and although Bude competed well in the contact areas they were outplayed in the set pieces which enabled Crediton to put phase after phase of play together.

This resulted in numerous gaps appearing in the Bude defence and they were punished heavily with Crediton being clinical in their finishing.

It was all one-way traffic in the first half and further Crediton tries were scored by Dave Rich (2), Phil Holmes, Jon Down, Rob Milton, Tom Ronchetti, Gav Down and Nathan Jackson.

Rob Milton added two conversions, Tom Ronchetti (2) and Nathan Jackson (1)  and by half-time Crediton had rattled up 59 points without reply.

Crediton loaned Bude experienced prop Wayne Reed, plus two Crediton replacements for the second half and playing down the slope with the wind behind them the game became more of a contest.

The damage had already been done in the first half and whilst Crediton did not play with the same intensity during the second period they continued to control the game.

Bude battled for everything from the restart making life more difficult for the 'Quins.

The pace of the Crediton backs was the telling factor and further tries were added by George Marshall, Rob Milton and Ash Brindley on his debut for the 'Quins after stepping up from the Colts and what a good prospect he looks. Rob Milton added one conversion.

It was pleasing that Bude finally got on the scoreboard late in the game for a well-deserved try which was also converted, making the final score 76-7 to Crediton.

Whilst the scoreboard tells its own story, it was gratifying to hear the Bude players saying how much they enjoyed the game and the hospitality they received at Crediton.

HORNETS

The Hornets won a hastily arranged friendly at South Molton 22-0.

Tries came from Shaun Timms, Tom Smale, M Norman and P Acton with a conversion from Andrew Pennington.

PH