Saturday, September 27
CREDITON 49 BUDE 0
CREDITON produced a sparkling display of attacking rugby to destroy a plucky Bude side and maintain the 100 per cent league record.
In recent seasons it has been a rare occurrence for the forwards not to get on the scoresheet but this was a day when all eight tries came from the backs.
That is not to say the pack did not play their part because they certainly did against an experienced Bude eight that battled away for most of the game.
After two league games in which we have either started well and finished badly or started badly and finished well it was a pleasure to see the potential unleashed for the full 80 minutes.
Despite the margin of victory, Bude did make life difficult for us especially in the first half when we turned around only 17 points to the good.
The second half was a very different story as the backs looked to run everything and simply blew the visitors away with six unanswered tries.
Fly-half Mark Lee opened the scoring on eight minutes with a penalty and this was followed four minutes later with the first try of the game.
Lock Declan McDonnell turned over Bude possession at a maul and the ball was sent out wide where impressive young centre, Jake Clarke, broke tackles and popped a well-timed pass to co-centre, Chris Simpson, who went over and Lee converted for a 10-0 lead.
Play got bogged down for a while as the experienced Bude pack worked hard to disrupt possession and their defence was stretched to breaking point.
They held out for another 20 minutes before Simpson touched down again. This time a long pass from Lee found left-wing Matt Dayment who made ground before off-loading to Simpson who crashed over, Lee converted.
The second half was almost one-way traffic and if spectators thought Bude had spent very little time in the home "22" during the first period then they spent even less in the second.
On 48 minutes Bude were forced to concede a five metres scrum and again Lee fed a long pass out to full-back Rob Milton and his inside pass found Clarke in support for a try.
More Crediton pressure forced another five metres scrum, the ball was moved quickly and again Milton was in the line and this time he found Dayment who dodged a couple of tackles to touch down, Lee adding the extras.
Within a minute Dayment was in again as Crediton ran back the Bude restart and his fleet footed touchline run left the visitors defence in his wake.
As the score mounted, the Crediton forwards got a driving maul going and then attacked the blindside to put winger Devon Hosegood in for a try.
On 78 minutes Crediton again turned over Bude possession and again the ball went to Hosegood who scorched home in the corner.
There was still time for Dayment to complete his hat-trick with a dash down the right touchline for another try in the corner.
It was indeed an impressive performance all round, the forwards as always provided the perfect platform and the backs posed a threat whenever they had the ball in hand.
As an all-round display it was certainly the best of the season and probably better than any performance last year.
This is a young side that has the potential to develop into a really good team. Yes, they will make mistakes, but as long as they put in performances of this calibre they will be a hard side to beat.
Tomorrow, play away against league leaders Withycombe.
IVYBRIDGE SECONDS 22
CREDITON 'QUINS 13
The 'Quins got their Merit Table campaign off to a disappointing start with this defeat at Ivybridge.
Early exchanges were evenly contested although Ivybridge always seemed to have the edge in the contact area where they recycled ball very quickly to give their pacey backs an advantage and gained an early extra bonus when Crediton flanker Cam Huxtable was very harshly yellow carded for allegedly blocking an Ivybridge player.
That advantage told after 17 minutes when Ivybridge pressed hard and despite some stout defending by the Crediton players, Ivybridge won quick ruck ball on the Crediton line and moved it quickly wide to score an unconverted try.
They increased their lead after 21 minutes when again the dominance of Ivybridge in the contact area won them good ball which they moved swiftly wide to score a second unconverted try in the corner.
Crediton back to full strength rallied strongly and started to create some good phases of play, however they could not make the decisive breakthrough.
Ivybridge then scored their third try after 32 minutes when a Crediton defensive clearance failed to find touch and Ivybridge countered through their backs to score a converted try in the corner.
Crediton responded with another good period of pressure in the Ivybridge 22 metres area and after several phases of play were rewarded when Ivybridge were penalised for persistently infringing on the floor and Tom Ronchetti scored the resultant penalty.
Right on half-time Ivybridge scored their fourth try, taking advantage of an overlap created, whilst Crediton had two players down injured, making the half-time score 22-3.
Crediton increased their physicality in the contact area and started to win a lot more phase ball to attack with. Their forwards made the breakthrough after 56 minutes by winning a good scrum five metres from the Ivybridge line and from a well-controlled drive, the ball was moved wide for Rowan Locke to score an unconverted try in the corner.
Crediton scored a second try after 75 minutes when the forwards won a line-out close to the Ivybridge line and set up another good driving maul giving the scrum-half a chance for Tom Ronchetti to dart over for an unconverted try to make the score 22-13.
Crediton could have made the finish a lot closer after 77 minutes when they were awarded a penalty, but with Crediton in possession and with a clear three-man overlap which would have resulted in a try, the referee failed to play the advantage law and called play back for the penalty to Crediton, a decision which even baffled the Ivybridge players and coaching staff.
The game closed with the final score 22-13 to Ivybridge in what was a good test for the Crediton players who now know there are areas of play that need improvement before coming up against some of the National League Second Fifteen sides.
BIDEFORD THIRDS 5
CREDITON HORNETS 44
The Hornets ran out comfortable winners against Bideford Thirds once they realised that they had the edge outside.
Bideford had a strong and experienced pack but the pressure from the Crediton eight soon wore them down.
However, it was not until the final quarter that the Hornets pulled clear when the fitness of youth finally overcame the more experienced opponents.
There were some good tries coming through some good handling and teamwork with the back row and three-quarters sharing them out between them.
Will Jermyn grabbed a couple of tries and there was one apiece for Henry Nuthall, Ben Phillips, Ben Rogers, Nathan Jackson, Phil Anning, and Tom Phillips. Gareth Kinch landed two conversions.
BARNSTAPLE COLTS 33
CREDITON COLTS 23
Crediton Colts put in a really good performance against a strong Barnstaple side and they certainly played their part in an entertaining game.
Crediton struggled to contain a very good Barnstaple fly-half who brought the Barnstaple backs into the game with devastating effect.
Barnstaple had scored two tries before Crediton settled, however, by half-time a Haydon Hill penalty reduced the arrears.
In the second half the young Crediton side threw everything at Barnstaple and scored twice through Joe Rees and Ollie Down to make it 15-12.
There was an air of self-belief in the side and a feeling that they could give Barnstaple a shock. However, Barnstaple scored almost from the re-start to make it 19-15 to blunt the Crediton resurgence.
Another Hill penalty took the scores to within a point but this was the closest for the rest of the game as Barnstaple scored again before Will Goodman charged down a kick from the re-start to score and then Barnstaple scored again.
Fixtures for tomorrow, Saturday, October 4: First Fifteen v Withycombe (away); Second Fifteen v Devonport (away); Hornets v Withycombe Seconds (home) and Colts v Okehampton (home). PH