Sunday, April 27 Under 17's National Bowl Semi-Final AYLESFORD BULLS 10 CREDITON 20 CREDITON Under 17's maintained their superb form to reach the RFU National Bowl final this weekend with a magnificent victory over much fancied Aylesford Bulls from Kent. Despite travelling all the way to Henley-on-Thames without the services of key players Harry Strong and Ollie Avery-Wright, Crediton overcame all the odds and a shaky start to condemn their opponents to a defeat that seemed to be, after the first half hour, unlikely. This is a very resilient group of young players who were totally unfazed by going behind early in the game, after all this has been the pattern of all of their games so far. Aylesford opened the scoring with a penalty and certainly dominated possession and territory for the first quarter. Their backs looked very useful although to be honest a bit too much showboating and not enough penetration. As the saying goes, forwards will win you a game, the backs decide by how many! The Crediton pack was immense and dominated both lineout and scrums and when under pressure, the defence was solid. Full-back Haydon Hill levelled the scores with an excellent penalty but then things took a turn for the worse as Aylesford won their scrum and for the only time in the game broke the Crediton defence to score a good try under the posts, which was easily converted. Things looked ominous for a period as we were unable to get into their "22" and the Aylesford confidence was high. However, we gradually began to dominate lineouts and put pressure on the Bulls' scrum, forcing play well into their half and gained the reward that was so richly deserved. The forwards played through several phases, creeping ever closer to the try line but eventually lost possession and Aylesford tried to clear their lines. Fortunately the kick was well fielded by replacement Samora Shakespeare who weaved his way through to touch down; fly-half Ollie Down landed a difficult conversion to level the scores and that is how things stayed until the interval. The Bulls began the second half as they had the first, plenty of running from the backs but no real cutting edge, it looked pretty but somewhat ineffective against an uncompromising Crediton defence. Both sides struggled to make any headway and even when Ollie Down was harshly yellow carded, the Bulls were never able to make their numerical advantage count. It was the Crediton side that eventually found a way through and again the forwards made things happen with some controlled rucking before the ball was released to winger, Harry Pilkington, who squeezed over in the corner. Aylesford then forced the game and missed a golden opportunity to level when their winger spilled the ball with the line at his mercy. They did not recover from that disappointment and it was the Crediton pack that sealed the game with a superb driving maul from fully 25 metres, with Dan Vanstone getting the touch down to complete a magnificent victory. It would be unfair to pick out individuals as this, like every other game, has been very much a team effort, with players showing a maturity beyond their years and all showing huge pride and commitment in the club jersey. There has never been a hint of panic when trailing in any of the games, just a sound knowledge of what was required to win the game. Of course, mistakes were made but again they were immediately put behind them and the players worked to retrieve the situation. There is a massive team ethic in the side as all worked tirelessly for each other. Whether or not they win the final will remain to be seen but what is certain is that if anyone is going to defeat them they will be made to work hard although I have a feeling that the self-belief combined with a high level of skill will eventually see them through. The youngsters - and the club - are fingers crossed for the final, to be played at Sale, Cheshire, on Sunday, May 4. To have reached the final is a major achievement for the lads and the club - unprecedented in the history of the club. Seconds complete double at Exmouth EXMOUTH SECONDS 7 CREDITON SECONDS 46 LONG before the start of the season, National Two side Exmouth were complaining that their Second Fifteen would not have good enough opposition to make their games competitive. As is so often the case, those somewhat arrogant comments have a habit of coming back and biting you hard. After this result, there will be some bright red faces at the Imperial Ground as the victory ensured Crediton achieved the double over Exmouth by a margin of 68-7 – just how competitive do they want their games to be? Of course the allegations came that we had fielded the First Fifteen in this Second Fifteen Merit Table game so to put the record straight yes, there were players with some First Fifteen experience in the side but then so would there have been in the Exmouth team, but it is fair to say that all the Crediton team have played more Second Fifteen games this season than they have for the First Fifteen. Exmouth fielded a big side but straight from the kick off Crediton showed they were not going to be intimidated by their physical presence. Prop, Sam Phillips, made a superb break and from the ensuing forward drive No 8, Gav Best, went over for an early try with fly-half Rob Milton adding the extras. Exmouth hit back almost immediately when their strong running backs exploited gaps in the Crediton defence to score a good try, which was also converted to bring the scores level. Honours were even for a period of time but Crediton were playing with passion and commitment and eventually regained the lead. Firstly, Milton slotted a penalty, quickly followed by an unconverted try in the corner when winger Nathan Jackson finished off a good passage of play between both forwards and backs to make the half time score 15-7 to Crediton. The second half started off with the same intensity coming from the Crediton players and they soon increased their lead. Broken play in the Exmouth 22 metre area saw Rob Milton pick up loose ball and he made a good blind side break to go over in the corner for an unconverted try. Crediton were playing with a lot of confidence and physicality against the bigger side and stretched the lead when Gav Best scored his second try off the back of a five metre scrum, Milton again adding the extras. Gaps were now starting to appear in the Exmouth defence, which had previously been solid and replacement centre, Dan Lewis, exploited this with a good line break to go over for a converted try. This was followed with another score, when winger Tom Smale, picked up spilt ball on the half-way line and raced clear to touch down under the posts for another converted try. The final score came off the back of another good forward drive by the Crediton pack with Ed Marshall getting the touch down and Milton the conversion to make the final score 48-7 to Crediton. This was indeed a very good performance from the Crediton team with every single squad member contributing to what was perhaps some of the best rugby they have played this season. PH