CREDITON 17

CULLOMPTON 17

CREDITON eased their relegation concerns with a well-earned and invaluable two points against high flying Cullompton in an entertaining Mid Devon Derby last Saturday which ended all square.

The opening exchanges were evenly contested with defences on top but the home side took the lead with a Mark Lee penalty on 15 minutes.

Cullompton looked threatening with the ball in hand but the home defence was in outstanding form snuffing out any threat. However, the visitors did grab the lead on 22 minutes when No 8 Sam Harris peeled off a driving maul to score at the posts, and winger Josh Luxon added the extras.

Within two minutes a clearance kick was mis-fielded by Crediton and Cully full-back Marcus Busch pounced on the loose ball to score out wide.

The game was end-to-end stuff and with both sides conceding penalties, it was the hosts who took advantage when, from a kick to the corner, the resulting catch and drive ended with lock Gav Best getting the touchdown, leaving Cullompton 12-10 ahead at the interval.

Crediton were soon reduced to 14 men early in the second half when replacement back row forward Rafa Zappia was yellow carded for deliberately putting hands in a ruck. 

Cullompton made full use of their numerical advantage at the scrum and quick ball was sent wide for centre Will Denford to crash through. 

The seven point deficit would still have been enough for a losing bonus point but Crediton were not in any mood to simply settle for that.

With 15 minutes remaining, fly-half Mark Lee produced a bit of magic with a superb break to take him past a couple of defenders and chip over the full-back before winning the chase to touch down, he then converted to level the scores.

Both sides went looking for the winning score but time ran out with the teams all square, a fair result which was more meaningful for the hosts than the visitors.

With six games remaining we are still third from bottom but now 12 points clear of the two teams below us.

Penryn have two games in hand and Saltash one. However, results tomorrow will have a considerable bearing on the outcome.

All the teams around us have difficult fixtures, Devonport, Wadebridge, Sidmouth and Saltash all visit opponents in the top five whilst Penryn host fourth placed Truro.

A victory for us at home against St Austell plus the other games going according to the form book, we could indeed move up at least three places.

We have actually lost fewer games than any of the other teams in the bottom half of the table although what has been to our detriment is the lack of bonus points earned, six during the entire season.

When we have lost it has generally been a heavy defeat, we have only gained two losing bonus points although we have gained four bonus points for scoring four tries in the game.

Throughout the season, bonus points are important but with six games left, every point is valuable.

PH