Crediton Quins 29 - Exeter Athletic 24

A GAME of two halves is always a ridiculous description for indeed most games do comprise of two halves.

However, this was a game of two distinctly different halves, on the one hand the Quins dominating possession and territory and reaching the interval 19 points to the good and without reply.

However, the visitors produced a dominant performance in the second period and, come the end, were glad to hear the final whistle.

Exeter Athletic began with some early pressure but the Quins gradually got into their stride and took control.

A driving maul and several phases close to the line ended with No 8 and skipper Chris Hooper touching down.

Whilst the Quins were on occasions tested defensively, they tended to look fairly sound although they occasionally did not help themselves by giving away some silly penalties.

A trademark break by the ever improving fullback Freddie Borthen whose pace and strength took him past a number of defenders before offloading to centre Bobby Saunders who finished off under the posts for Tom Ronchetti to convert.

A third try looked an almost certainty when winger Bobby Jenkin made a superb 50 metre touchline dash before being bundled into touch.

However, it was not long before Saunders bagged his second with Ronchetti adding the extras for a 19-0 interval lead.

The second period saw a complete transformation, an early Athletic try went unconverted, but certainly did much for their confidence.

They began to dominate all areas of the game and the penalty count against Crediton mounted to the point where yellow cards came into play and at one stage Crediton were down to 13 players.

A converted try reduced the Quins lead to seven points although the pressure was somewhat eased when a clumsy tackle by the visitors on their “22” gave Ronchetti a simple penalty to restore the lead to 10 points.

Back came the Athletic and once again the pressure built up but a timely interception from Fenton Davies on our “22” and a race to the line for a try converted by Ronchetti gave us what should have been an unassailable lead of 17 points.

The “never say die” attitude of the visitors brought them two more tries towards the end, one converted and it was a relief to hear the final whistle.

This was ultimately a good win for the Quins and one which saw them take top spot in the league.

The problems that need addressing certainly revolve around the penalty count, hands in the ruck and knowing where the offside line is should be simple things to resolve, but one thing is certain, the Quins cannot afford to play for a quarter of the game with only 14 players on the pitch, 10 minutes of which there were only 13 players.

On Saturday, November 26 the First XV and the Quins have more tough challenges, Sidmouth First XV will be visitors and the Quins will travel to Sidmouth, both are league fixtures.

The Thirds will travel to Exeter Saracens for a Merit Table game against their Seconds.

The Colts are also at home against Sidmouth in the Colts Cup.

St Austell Breweries, through their Tribute Beer brand, are sponsors of the SW Leagues and each month, every county elects a Tribute Team of The Month.

For October, it was Crediton First XV who were awarded the accolade with four wins from four games, three of which were away from home and in each case 40 or more points were scored. Well done CRFC.

Paul Harris