Crediton 17 - Chew Valley 20

FEW outside of the Club would have given us much of a chance against high flying Chew Valley, they have been the league pacesetters for most of the season and had seen us off at their ground earlier in the season 69-3.

However, most Clubs know not to take us lightly for if they do then they are likely to come unstuck. This was a game in which I suspect the players themselves will certainly be disappointed in as there were opportunities to have won.

We enjoyed plenty of possession and the second half in particular, we dominated territory. The truth is that the bulk of their scoring came against the run of play at the time.

The opening 10 minutes were all about our attack and the CV defence as we camped in their "22" for almost that entire opening period.

A couple of penalties went our way and in hindsight, perhaps we should have got the scoreboard moving by taking the points on offer.

As it was, we went for the lineout option and the resulting driving mauls were well defended. The visitors threequarters looked threatening with ball in-hand and on 18 minutes were awarded a penalty in midfield.

They too opted for the kick to touch and a lineout. The resulting driving maul created the opening try and the successful conversion put us seven points down.

The visitors then had a period of pressure, testing our defence to the limit but we held firm. It was something of an irony then that their second try came from our possession when a pass was intercepted by the CV scrum half who darted down the touchline to score out wide, the conversion failed but we were 12 points down.

The final five minutes of the half saw a flurry of scores, firstly, the visitors were penalised for a high tackle and Ollie Avery-Wright slotted over the penalty for our first points and within minutes, we turned over possession close to their line and from the driving maul, the ball went loose and it was hooker Tom Luxmoore who reacted quickest to dive on the ball for the score.

OAW converted and we were right back in it at 10-12. The euphoria was short lived as another attack from the visitors created an overlap and they scored in the corner, the conversion missed its target and we were 10-17 down at the interval.

The second period began much as the first had with our pressure but no reward, indeed, both defences had been outstanding throughout the game.

However, just past the hour mark, another lineout from a kick to touch and we set up another driving maul and it was No8 Will Goodman who touched down, OAW converted and we were back at 17 all.

The visiting pack had struggled against us for much of the game and as time wore on, we became even more dominant in that area and there were occasions where we thought perhaps we should have been rewarded with a penalty as their front row popped up, unfortunately, the penalty never came.

Little had been seen of the visitors as an attacking force in the second half.

A couple of dangerous looking forays came to nothing but there was always the fear that the backs could conjure up something especially through the fullback who was a constant threat with ball in-hand.

With 10 minutes left on the clock, we were penalised on our "22" for entering a ruck from the side and there was no mistake from the kick which put CV ahead by three points and that is how it stayed until the final whistle.

A disappointing conclusion to a good game of rugby and once again, we proved that we can live with the better sides in the league although we do struggle against the lower teams.

The pack was immense and certainly had the better of things at scrum time. The Chew Valley backs were a potent force and a constant threat when they had the ball and it was something of a surprise that they were not used more often.

The enforced reshuffle of our backs when scrum half Ed Brady was forced to withdraw on Saturday morning meant that centre Will Castleton was moved to scrum half and did an excellent job.

Ben Wonnacott was shifted from the back row to fill the centre berth and he too played a pivotal role, especially in defence and earned our man of the match award.

The reshuffle continued with Will Goodman moving to No8 and Rowan Braunton coming into the second row.

On the whole, a good performance and, had we played like that the previous week at Bridgwater we could well have come away with a win.

Tomorrow, we have as near as a local derby as we can have with a trip to Wellington and a chance to complete our first double of the season.

Cullompton Seconds 14 - Crediton Seconds 14

Cullompton have shown a dramatic improvement during the past few weeks and so to get a draw there was no mean feat. As the result shows, it was an evenly contested game with Macca Jones and Josh Atkinson scoring our tries with Tom Ronchetti converting both.

Crediton Thirds 10 - Honiton Seconds 41

The two sides met for the third time this season, this time in a hastily arranged friendly. Honiton brought a strong side and were worthy winners.

As always the Thirds never let heads drop and at half-time, having had the advantage of the slope, we held them to 10-12. The visitors then secured 29 points in the second half without reply and mainly through some quick backs.

However, we battled through to the end and, win or lose, the team simply enjoys playing the game. Hayden Hill and Ashley Bradnock were our try scorers.

Topsham Colts 29 - Crediton Colts 10

The Colts opened their Devon Merit Table campaign on Saturday with a trip to Topsham, hoping for a repeat of the victory at Blagdon earlier in the season.

Topsham would be a different prospect than before Christmas and, with a few of our lads unavailable, a tough game was expected.

And a tough game it was. Topsham were deserved winners 29-10 although few could argue against the fact that the scoreline flattered the hosts.

We competed well in all areas of the game and were on top for periods but just lacked the killer finishing touch. Our points came from two unconverted tries scored by Will Conner and Ben Butland.

Following the game, we received a message from a spectator which we think is worth sharing: “Even though Crediton came a close second best on the day, I was very impressed with their overall attitude and commitment and the fact that they scored right at the very end was a true testament of that. I didn’t see any of them giving up, blaming teammates, or complaining to the ref when the chips were down which is easy to do when you are winning but a true test of character when you are not.”

So, while the result was disappointing, once again the manner in which the lads conducted themselves was far from it.

Tomorrow the First XV travel to Wellington, the Second XV entertain Cullompton in the Merit Table and the Colts are also at home against Cullompton in The Colts Cup.

Paul Harris