CREDITON 25

CREDITON maintained their good start to 2014 with a hard earned win at bottom place Veor.

Despite their position in the league, Veor always make life difficult for visiting sides and it was not until the last quarter that Crediton managed to pull away and secure the bonus point win.

Playing with the slope in the first half, Crediton took an early lead when, despite losing their lineout five metres off the Veor line, flanker Sam Rowe intercepted the pass from the scrum-half and plunge over after only two minutes.

Five minutes later the lead was extended with a Rob Milton penalty and everything looked set for a big win.

To their credit, the home side began to get into the game and with a couple of quick backs started to attack from deep.

Although they did not score there were one or two signs that they could be dangerous especially with quick penalties.

The Crediton forwards were in dominant mood and prop Sam Phillips led the way with some excellent runs, gaining yards and taking tacklers with him before offloading with almost perfect timing.

The lead was added to on 26 minutes when No 8, Mark Nott, got the touch down off a driving maul.

Crediton were guilty of conceding penalties and when the home scrum-half took a quick one in his own half, the visitors were caught napping.

He raced clear and chipped full-back Tom Ronchetti but was illegally taken out in the chase to the try line. The referee gave a penalty try and a yellow card for centre Ben Wonnacott.

With only six points in it at the interval and the slope against us in the second half, supporters could be forgiven for thinking that, perhaps, we had all but thrown the game away.

Fortunately, Veor were pinned in their own "22" for long periods and yet we continued to struggle to finish off the try scoring opportunities that came our way.

Three times the pack was held up over the line although it seemed purely a matter of time before the score would come.

It did courtesy of another driving maul where flanker Chris Hooper peeled off and went over.

Veor reduced the deficit with another penalty but other than that very little was seen of them in the second half.

Josh Lee rounded off the scoring with a pushover try which Milton converted.

A good result which, perhaps, could have been better. We tended to shoot ourselves in the foot on occasions with the forwards overdoing things when the ball could have been released earlier.

Lineouts were a bit of a problem especially when throwing to the back. Indeed the safe and secure option of throwing to two or four produced much better results.

Conceding penalties at crucial times especially in attacking situations cost us dearly in terms of points scored. That said, when we went to Veor two years ago we were caught out completely and lost.

The memory of that defeat lingered long and there was a determination in the side not to allow it to be repeated.

CREDITON 'QUINS 7

BRIXHAM SECONDS 38

The 'Quins battled hard against a strong Brixham side who were comfortably ahead at the interval having played with the slope in the first half.

The second period was much more evenly contested and scrum-half, Dave Rich, went over for a try with fly-half, Gareth Kinch, landing the conversion.

CREDITON COLTS 32

BARNSTAPLE COLTS 22

Having missed a few weeks of rugby, the Colts got 2014 off to a flyer with an outstanding win against Barnstaple as they prepare for the second round of the Colts Cup against Kingsbridge.

Prop MaCauley Jones scored two tries, both wingers Asher Brindley and Harry Strong touched down and fly-half James Goodman made up the fifth try.

Strong added two conversions and a penalty.

Veterans beat

Saracens

Seconds

CREDITON VETERANS' FIFTEEN 49

EXETER SARACENS

SECOND FIFTEEN 3

AS the Crediton Veterans' assembled on a sunny afternoon at Blagdon, the early talk was of who might not make it through the afternoon, especially after Sarries arrived with their second fifteen and not their veterans!

The pre-match warm up did not do a great deal to inspire confidence and the feeling was that it may be a long afternoon. 

However, once the referee blew his whistle to start the game it became clear that the veterans of Crediton had not lost any of their competitive edge.

Playing up the slope in the first half, with sticky conditions under foot, the game plan was to tuck it up the jumper for 40 minutes and grind down the youthful opposition. 

This was soon forgotten and the urge to play the game at a quicker pace won through. 

Thankfully unlimited rolling replacements had been agreed before the start of the game!

Trying to remember exactly how the game unfolded did prove difficult for the reporter, but the post match talk was of a free flowing game where Crediton players ran hard into space and offloaded with skill. 

There were always players in support of the runners and nine tries of the highest quality were scored. 

The attacking play was matched by a solid defensive display, which denied the Sarries any quality ball.

Picking out anyone for special mention is neither easy nor fair, but a couple of highlights should be mentioned. 

John Adams only gave away a single penalty all afternoon and even the referee's assessor felt that it was harsh! 

Eddie Yeandle's rampaging run where he bounced off three players - depending on who you talked to, they were either all six foot two inches and 17 stone or they had a combined height of six foot two inches and 17 stone!  And, off course, three incidents of jug evasion (Adams, Grigg and Dellamuro)!

With a combined age of 912, the veteran's squad showed that class is permanent and that you never lose the will to win.  

Stories of the past flowed long into the night, along with one or two beers and no doubt the morning after proved somewhat difficult for some.

Squad and Scorers: M Grigg (Captain, Coach and Inspiration to All!) – two tries; S Bayley; A Westcott – one try; J Williams; E Yeandle; T Garner; Steve Saunders; J Harris; J Adams – two tries; R John; L Anthony – one try; D Howard – two conversions; M Allder – one try; Karea; B Butterfield; P Dellamuro – two tries; B Cattermole; M Norman; P Currey; P May; M Chiverton; N Collins.

PH