CHARD 18 - CREDITON 35

OUR three previous meetings with Chard have all been close encounters and, despite their lowly position in the league, we anticipated a tough game on Saturday, January 12.

With several enforced changes to the side that gained a hard-earned win against Bideford the selectors brought in two of our many promising Colts, Josh Woodland and Will Crang.

The old cliché of a game of two halves seemed an appropriate description in what was something of a Jekyll and Hyde performance although we were never behind and a gap of four points was as good as it got for the home side.

After overcoming some early pressure from the home side and somewhat against the run of play, we opened the scoring with a breakaway try scored by left-wing Andrew Smerdon after he was put away some 40 metres out and sprinted down the touchline evading two tackles to touch down.

Much of the credit for the try must go to young lock Ethan Pearce. In only his second appearance for the First Fifteen, it was his superb turnover and pass that put Smerdon away. Centre Ollie Down added the conversion.

Within minutes Down landed a penalty for a 10-0 lead and things were looking good. Chard battled back into the game and for the remainder of the half they dominated territory and possession but were unable to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities.

However, by the interval, Chard had popped over a couple of penalties to reach the break four points adrift and we had rarely been seen as an attacking force.

The opening minutes of the second half continued in much the same way and Chard looking confident that they could win as they had the advantage of the slight slope.

However, the game turned when from a scrum on half-way, fly-half Mark Lee sent out a perfectly weighted miss pass to find full-back Gareth Mason who went through two defenders before sipping the ball inside to Ollie Down who raced through for five points.

A bit of breathing space and we began to play some excellent rugby and another try soon followed.

Once again, it was Ethan Pearce who started things off with another turnover and a 15-metre dash before offloading to Will Crang, on for the injured Ben Wonnacott.

Crang made further yards before putting fellow Colt Josh Woodland away for a try.

The entire complexion of the game had changed as Chard were visibly shell-shocked and we were playing with much more freedom.

Hooker Dan Yendell was next on the scoresheet as he was driven over from a maul and when Mark Lee made a dash down the left brushing aside defenders before passing inside to Smerdon who was up in support for his second try of the game.

It certainly looked as though we could score at will and when flanker Jake Clarke was driven over in a maul, we had bagged five tries in 25 minutes and entered the final 15 minutes with a 29-point lead.

Prop Phil Holmes earned a 10-minute breather for a “no arm” tackle and the hosts took advantage with a couple of late tries, both it has to be said were somewhat dubiously aided by a couple of knock-ons and forward passes.

Unfortunately for them, it was too little too late and for us it was an outstanding attacking performance in the second half which complimented the excellent defence of the first period.

The icing on the cake was indeed the performance of three youngsters with Ethan Pearce looking as though he has been a regular first team player for years.

Will Crang and Josh Woodland showed composure in all they did and were certainly not overawed by the occasion of their First Fifteen debuts and the undoubted highlight of the game was when the three of them combined to create and score the third try.

The bonus point victory keeps us in touch with the top two and four points clear of Wellington as the top four are gradually creeping away from the rest.

Tomorrow, Saturday, January 19 we welcome Winscombe to Crediton and whilst nothing can be taken for granted we did win comfortably up there earlier in the season.

Whilst we have now won 12 of our 15 games, we have struggled to pick up bonus points which could prove costly.

CREDITON QUINS 10 - OKEHAMPTON SECONDS 34

The ‘Quins had another difficult game against Okehampton, although they held the lead briefly, courtesy of a penalty try and a Tom Ronchetti penalty.

Crediton were more than equal to the task in the pack but unfortunately Okey proved too strong in the backs and scored tries at regular intervals.

A trip to Newton Abbot for the Second Fifteen tomorrow, things certainly don’t get easier.

EXETER ATHLETIC SECONDS 17 - CREDDITON THIRDS 19

An experienced Third Fifteen made the short journey to Exeter for a game against the recently formed Exeter Athletic, formerly Wessex RFC.

We opened the scoring when Deyan Tomic was able to crash over by the posts, Hayden Hill converted to make it 7-0.

Exeter Athletic had a number of sustained attacks and despite some resolute defending particularly some inspired steals from captain Locke, Exeter scored to make it 7-5 to Crediton at half-time.

Shortly after the interval a mix up in midfield caused some confusion in the Crediton defence and the home centre was gifted an easy run in to score at the posts.

The thirds responded with some fine play and some forward pressure allowed Andy Hawkes to crash over from short range to level the scores.

The Crediton forwards had the better of their opposition and continued to press and it was not long before Richard Gray forced his way over. Hill added the extras.

Exeter rallied and put a passing move together to outflank the Crediton backs to score in the corner to bring them within two points at 17-19.

The conversion was missed and for the remaining seven minutes Exeter pressed but despite a late penalty shot and an attempted drop goal Crediton held on to take a hard-earned victory.

CREDITON COLTS 17 - SALTASH COLTS 36

The Colts played a friendly against Saltash and suffered only their third defeat of the season.

Tobias Whittaker bagged a couple of tries with Will Bonsor touching down once. Owen Cooper added a conversion.

Paul Harris