CREDITON 29

HAYLE 14

CREDITON will count themselves fortunate to have won this game, let alone win a bonus point.

If ever a side made use of their get-out-of-jail card then this was it. Hayle totally dominated the first half and were thoroughly deserving of their 14-0 half-time lead, the home side simply were not in the game.

The only virtue for Crediton was that they restricted the visitors to two tries in what was a somewhat one-sided first half.

The fact that it took Hayle 28 minutes to open the scoring was as much of a surprise to the home supporters as anyone else.

The first try came after considerable pressure in the Crediton "22" led to a driving maul try converted by fly-half Scott Harvey.

Crediton did make some inroads into the visiting "22" but were unable to create any opportunities due to a combination of a strong Hayle defence and a failure to look after the ball when we had possession.

Visiting hooker Danny Clatworthy was a constant thorn in the Crediton side with some strong running although he was helped by some poor tackling.

A second Hayle try came off another of his runs and Crediton were unable to get their tackles in, and with players in support, the move ended with a try which Harvey converted.

The visitors were certainly good value for their interval lead.

The second period proved that strength in depth is vital to any club and there was no doubting that the bench players can have as much influence as any others. 

The Hayle restart failed to reach the 10 metres line and the resulting scrum saw home fly-half Ollie Avery-Wright kick to the corner and right-wing Devon Hosegood gathered and outpaced the Hayle defence to score out wide.

With tails up Crediton began to take control and it was not long before flanker Ben Wonnacott peeled off a maul to score in the corner.

Crediton took the lead when Mark Lee took a quick penalty on the home "22" making 30 metres in the process, the offload to Wonnacott and then to centre Chris Simpson, ended with the latter going over at the posts, with Avery-Wright landing the extras.

Within minutes, the referee allowed a good advantage and Mark Lee took full advantage with a powerful run to score in the corner.

Ahead by two scores, Crediton began to play with some style and again it was Lee who opened up from deep and Wonnacott, Simpson and flanker, Gav Best, were all involved in a tremendous handling move which ended with Best going over and Avery-Wright converted to complete the scoring.

After a poor first half performance, for Crediton to have won was indeed a bonus but to have gained the additional point for four tries was somewhat unexpected.

The second half performance was totally different as we were on the front foot and we began to create opportunities, fortunately we took five of them to keep the pressure on Saltash above us and Withycombe in third place.

Six games remain, away fixtures at Honiton, OPM and Pirates plus home games against Liskeard, Paignton and Saltash.

As things stand five wins will see us promoted and the form book would suggest at least four comfortable wins.

However, there are times when the form book goes out of the window and the odd surprise result crops up.

We are certainly good enough to win all the six remaining games but we must not become complacent, every game will be as important as the previous 20.

The Second Fifteen won the local derby at Tiverton, albeit by a narrow margin, 17-14 but enough to keep us in third place in the Merit Table.

The Third Fifteen played a hastily arranged friendly against Withycombe Seconds, a precursor to the final Merit Table game of the season at the end of April which could decide which side will be champions of Devon Merit Table Three.

The 38-25 win certainly laid down a marker for the game at Raleigh Park. No 8 Will Jermyn bagged a hat-trick of tries, Sam Miller, Jordan Pring and George Marshall all contributed with one apiece and Phil Anning converted four.

The Colts completed a good day for the club with a 55-0 thumping of Teignmouth.

Skipper Jamie MacKenzie scored three tries and there was one apiece for John Gray, Tom Mortimer, Ollie Down, Alex Rodd, Will Goodman and Ollie Langdon-Wright. Haydon Hill converted two and Langdon-Wright three.

Fixtures for tomorrow, Saturday, February 28: First Fifteen v Honiton (away); Second Fifteen v Cullompton (home) and Third Fifteen v Cullompton (home).

PH