A CLOSELY-fought encounter, during which the visitors were ahead for all but 10 minutes of the game, but we took the lead for the first time when it mattered most.

There had been no let up in the rain which fell constantly from the early hours of the morning until after the match was over.

The ball was like a bar of soap which created difficulties for both sets of players. The early signs looked promising for us as the first attack from the kick off took play to five metres from their line but an infringement allowed an easy defensive exit for Wellington.

A Dan Goldstone penalty on seven minutes put the visitors ahead and, try as we might, we were unable to find a way through a well organised defence.

An injury to the influential scrum half Ed Brady ended his game on 20 minutes, forcing a shuffling of the back line, Ollie Avery-Wright moving to nine, brother Rob into 10.

The tension in our game was relieved somewhat in the 35th minute when Ollie Avery-Wright landed a penalty to level the scores.

However, within minutes visiting No8 Cam Venn exploited a hole in our defence to dash over from close range, granted we did have a player receiving treatment at the time which did leave our defence short of numbers.

Goldstone converted for a 10-3 lead for Wellington. That lead was cut almost immediately when a clever kick from Ollie Avery-Wright saw winger Gareth Mason outpace his opposite number (who was probably half his age!) secure the bouncing ball and race over for the try, the conversion hit the post and we were two points adrift at the interval.

Within 10 minutes of the second half, the Wellington lead had jumped to 10 points, a Goldstone penalty and a try for flanker Will Hinchcliffe which was not converted.

A two-score advantage and we were not helped by an injury to Rob Avery-Wright which meant the returning Ross Toms moving in to 10, with Ben Wonnacott and Jake Clarke moving from the back row to fill the centre berths. The 10-point deficit looked like a mountain to climb particularly as the visitors had not had too much difficulty in defending anything we threw at them.

The pattern changed on 58 minutes when Ben Wonnacott was driven over the line for a try which brought us to within five points and the conversion made it a three-point game.

The Wellington defence began to creak and Avery-Wright levelled the score on 72 minutes with a penalty.

With two minutes remaining, the Wellington scrum, which had struggled all afternoon, were penalised and the kick to the corner produced a lineout from which the ball came out for Wonnacott to grab his second try of the day to put us ahead for the first time in the game.

Avery-Wright landed the conversion and, despite one last effort from the visitors, we managed to play out the remaining two minutes to seal what at times seemed an unlikely victory.

Ivybridge Seconds 33 - Crediton Seconds 17

A case of top v bottom in this Devon MT 1 clash at Ivybridge but the game itself did not reflect the gulf in the positions in the table of the two sides.

In adverse weather conditions, the Crediton side went in search of their first win of the season and whilst that did not materialise, the improvement in performance was hugely encouraging.

Once again, it was the slow start that proved costly for the Quins with the majority of the Ivybridge points coming in the first half when our indiscipline gifted them the opportunities to create chances.

Ivybridge would pump the kicks to the corner and make full use of the catch and drive from close range and built up a 28-7 lead by half-time. The Quins scrum was solid and forced a pushover try for Chris Hooper, converted by Elliot White for our points in the first half.

The second half showed a distinct improvement despite playing up the slope, and a relentless onslaught of pick and drives created pressure on the home side which resulted in a number of penalties.

The pressure eventually told and centre Tom O’Donnell went in for a brace of tries and although Ivybridge did get one second half try, the game ended with the Quins in the ascendancy but unable to add to their score. Unfortunately missing out on a losing bonus point by a single point.

Crediton Colts 0 v Ivybridge Colts 21

Having started the season well, the visit of Ivybridge to Blagdon was always going to provide a real test for the Kirton lads as the visitors have always produced very good Colts squads.

We are developing into a decent squad too and, although Ivybridge were worthy winners, the game was closer than the final score might suggest, with 14 points coming in the final five minutes.

In slippery conditions both sides showed an intent to play throughout and gave the crowd an entertaining afternoon. It was a physical battle too and no quarter was given as both sets of players put everything on the line.

It took 20 minutes for the deadlock to break when Ivybridge crossed after several pick and drives to go 0-7 ahead. The scoreboard was untroubled until the 65th minute when the visitors went in for a well worked converted try and then, with time just about up, they repeated the feat.

Our set piece worked well and we looked dangerous when we took the attack to Ivybridge.

Our attitude, energy and commitment were outstanding. There really was little to choose between the two teams but Ivybridge were more clinical in their execution and we did, perhaps, lose our composure and patience at a couple of key moments.

This though, was another extremely positive outing for this group of players who continue to impress on many levels.

Hopefully we can give them our support tomorrow, 1pm KO at home v Sidmouth in the National KO Cup 1st Round.

Tomorrow, First and Seconds at home v Devonport and Thirds away at Topsham, Colts at home v Sidmouth - 1pm KO.

Paul Harris