North Petherton 29 - Crediton 36

FOR our final league game of the season, a much changed First XV travelled up the M5 to North Petherton for a rearranged game following the postponement of the original fixture back in January.

Eight members of the previous week’s side were unavailable due to a pre-arranged stag weekend.

We were on the attack right from the word go and camped deep inside home territory and early pressure brought a penalty which we kicked to the corner.

Matt Arnold won good lineout ball and we drove for the line. The ball was released to the backs and it was centre Ben Wonnacott who raced over for the opening score.

Josh Hall, normally a winger but today playing at fly half, showed off his kicking skills with the conversion.

North Petherton responded fairly quickly and took play into our “22” and a penalty for not releasing at the tackle gave an easy three points to the home side.

We were keen to keep the momentum going and on eight minutes came our second try of the day.

The forwards won a good scrum and scrum half Fenton Davies showed a clean pair of heels before being grounded.

We retained possession and went through several phases before lock Josh Lee crashed over, Hall added the extras again.

We continued the pressure forcing the home side into conceding a penalty which Hall slotted over with ease.

Two minutes later, a home scrum was driven off the ball and No8 Dan Lee broke down the blind side before putting Davies away and he could not be caught in a 20 metre dash to the line.

Hall again adding the extras for a 24-3 lead in the first quarter of the game. Inevitably, despite how well a team plays, they seldom have things their own way for the entire game.

North Petherton began to build some momentum and were rewarded with a well taken try after several phases, the conversion left us 24-10 ahead at the interval.

The hosts were really back in the game within three minutes of the restart, they won a scrum on half way and broke through the midfield and with some good handling and support play scored a good try which went unconverted.

That seemed to breathe new life into Petherton but we kept plugging away and they defended doggedly but were forced to concede a penalty which again was kicked to the corner.

The driving maul worked well and it was Josh Lee who broke off to crash over for the bonus point try. Hall converted and we could breathe a little easier.

However, back came Petherton and they caught us out with a short ball at a lineout deep in our territory and we were left exposed down the touchline to give them a clear run to the try line, the conversion gave them hopes of a comeback at 31-22.

More of our pressure produced a penalty which was again kicked to the corner and another driving maul produced our final try of the day with Wonnacott going over for his second.

Hall just failed to retain his 100 per cent record off the tee as the conversion drifted wide.

The final score of the afternoon went to the home side and earned them two bonus points, one of their players reacted quickest to a loose ball and raced through a couple of tackles to score a converted try for the first bonus point. The conversion brought them to seven points behind which earned them a second one and gave the final score of 36-29 to us.

This was a strong finish to an already impressive season where we amassed 93 points out of a possible 110, and the second place finish is a remarkable achievement in what was our highest ever position in the leagues since they began 34 years ago.

Equally pleasing was the performance throughout the season of players that have stepped up to the First XV, proof that there is a real depth of talented players created at the Club which augurs well for the future. 

Crediton Thirds 

This was a hastily rearranged Merit Table fixture to replace the original game against South Molton Seconds who were unable to raise a team. Barnstaple made the trip to Crediton for the second time this season in their quest to win the Merit Table.

As expected Barnstaple came out the blocks all guns blazing and scored within two minutes and it looked as though this would be a long afternoon for the Thirds.

However, that somewhat spurred us on and and the players showed that they were not going to simply roll over and indeed by the interval, tries were exchanged by both side and we reached the break leading 14-12.

Unfortunately, and as has often happened in other games this season, we went to sleep for 20 minutes or so during which time Barnstaple built up an unassailable lead, running in the tries with great handling and support play.

We did awake from our slumbers in the final quarter and made more of a game of it!

We had dominance at the scrum all through the game and lineouts were exceptional, and when the backs had the chance they scored a couple of great tries from outstanding handling moves.

However a lack of communication scuppered us in defence!

Despite the loss everyone came off the pitch with a smile on their face and Barnstaple said it was great to have a good competitive game!

For the record, Tries were scored by Sam Rowe, Ieuan Evans, Kevin Ellis and a penalty try, with two conversions from Owen Cooper.

Crediton Colt 31 - Devonport Colts 26

The Colts ended their Devon RFU Cup campaign with a victory over Devonport Services. The game was a “double header” and the 10 points gained for the win gave the side a third place finish in the highest tier of the county competition, behind Ivybridge and Newton Abbot who will compete in the final.

Huge congratulations must go to the lads for this fantastic achievement.

This game could have gone either way and it took a try with the final play of the game to secure the win as, yet again, we made life extremely difficult for ourselves.

For the opening quarter of the match, there was really only one side in it, and by the 20th minute we were 14-0 ahead thanks to tries from Ben Harris and Marshall Street.  Both were converted by Tom Gray.

The remainder of the half was all Devonport. As they found their way into the game with an increased energy, we became lethargic and began to give away penalty after penalty. 

By half-time the score was 14-14, and Harris was in the bin, having taken one for the team’s repeated offences.

The start of the second half wasn’t much better from our point of view. Services crossed for their third try within three minutes of the restart and we were 14-21 down.

Going behind stirred us back into life and we began to get back on the front foot and take the game to the opposition.

Playing with a new found intensity, we were able to string some phases together and we looked dangerous.  Two unconverted tries, one from Harvey Murfitt and the other from Charlie Clark gave us a 24 v 21 lead with 15 minutes of the game remaining.

As the clocked ticked down, Devonport got themselves into a good position and crossed in the corner to retake the lead 24 v 26.  With just three minutes remaining calm heads were needed and the boys duly delivered.

Having regained possession we played through a number of phases before Euan Philip crashed over under the posts.  Freddie Blackburn added the extras and the final whistle blew.

Not for the first time this season, coaches and supporters alike were put through the mill but these lads found a way to get the result and for that we are all extremely proud.

This Saturday, the First XV are back on the Devon Senior Cup trail with a trip to Okehampton who we have not played since 2016.

With no game for the Quins, the Thirds host Ilfracombe and the Colts have a friendly at home against Tavistock.

Paul Harris