CREDITON UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB

South West Peninsula League Division One East

BUDLEIGH SALTERTON 0

CREDITON UNITED 0

CREDITON travelled down to a sunny Greenway Lane on Saturday, April 16, to take on Budleigh Salterton and looking to arrest a slump in form which had brought three defeats on the spin.

Creddy again changed formation, this time adopting a narrow 4-5-1 system and looking to play narrow.

The game started with the hosts trying to play passing football along the back, with the visitors looking to play more direct and into areas.

The first chance came on 21 minutes, following an excellent right-wing cross from McCann, Blake’s header went just off target from 12 yards.

On 24 minutes a surging run from Durrant got him in an excellent shooting position but decided to take an extra touch and the chance was lost.

The hosts had their only chance of the first half on 33 minutes when a loose ball fell to John Nott but his shot from eight yards was saved by Keast.

The final 10 minutes of the first half should have seen Creddy take the lead. Firstly a Blake header was superbly tipped over the bar by the Robins’ ‘keeper Alan Doble, who also made a less convincing save from a McCann effort.

Blake then had a golden chance on 44 minutes but his effort went past the far post to see the score 0-0 at the break.

The second half saw Crediton shoot down the hill but against the slight breeze. The best chance of the 90 minutes came in the 55th minute when a terrific pull back from Durrant gave Blake a guilt-edge chance from six yards but his effort just evaded the near post.

From here the hosts started to control possession and created a few chances of their own. The Robins’ created their best chance of the game on 66 minutes when a fine run from Aaron Denny saw him create a shooting chance from 16 yards but his low shot was well-saved by Keast.

On 71 minutes a deflected chance from George Pannell was saved by the legs of Keast. On 80 minutes Jack Greenslade was shown a straight red card for a petulant off the ball kick on right-back Michael Broome.

But with the back four of Broome, Lee, Trenaman and Khoo and the defensive protection of Skinner and Harvey in front, Creddy never looked like conceding in this game and the last 10 minutes were played out without any further chances.

This was a much-improved performance from Creddy who, if it wasn’t for some poor finishing, would have comfortably won this game.

Nathan Keast