Saturday, November 5

CREDITON 36 - BURNHAM-ON-SEA 10

BURNHAM were something of an unknown quantity as we had never played them at First Fifteen level before although they were just a few places above us in the league.

The only form guide was that they had beaten St Ives the previous week but that did not really give us much to go on.

The early indications were certainly good from the home perspective and we took the lead after 12 minutes of constant pressure, going through the phases, remaining patient and then good hands to put lock Declan McDonnell in for a try.

Burnham forced their way into the game for a brief period and reduced the arrears with a penalty on 18 minutes after a Crediton indiscretion in a ruck, despite what players may think, referees will often spot hands where they should not be!

Two minutes later, a well-worked and cleverly constructed try came off a lineout, hooker Bobby Mogford broke clear down the left and fed inside to winger Jason Luff who made more ground before offloading to Josh Lee to crash over in the corner.

The pressure on the visitors continued remorselessly and just on the half-hour the ball was moved out wide for winger Devon Hosegood to use his pace to go over in the corner.

The momentum stayed with the home side and the bonus point try came just before the interval when once again some good handling saw No 8 Mark Nott go over in the corner, this time Mark Lee did slot the conversion from yet another difficult angle.

The half-time water had barely been digested when from a scrum on half-way, Nott broke downfield and swept through a couple of tackles before offloading to fly-half Matt Dayment who raced away to touch down, Lee adding the extras and that was more or less game over.

The visitors struck back with a good try coming from a break down the right-hand side and an inside pass for a try under the posts which was converted.

The last word went to Dayment as he went over for his second in the left corner, Lee again converting for a comfortable victory which took us off the bottom spot for the first time this season.

IVYBRIDGE SECONDS 29 - CREDITON SECONDS 32

Crediton Seconds travelled to Ivybridge for a Devon Merit Table One league fixture and with only a bare 15 players they soon found themselves 7-0 down after conceding a simple try after five minutes.

Crediton re-grouped and started to match Ivybridge in all areas of play and after 20 minutes Tom Smale was up in support to finish off a fine backs move scoring an unconverted try.

Ivybridge immediately hit back with a penalty and the first half closed out with Ivybridge 5-10 in the lead.

Crediton started the second half with more intent, bringing a lot more physicality into their game, and following a sustained period of pressure in the Ivybridge 22 metres area Joe Rees crashed over in the corner for an unconverted try to level the score.

Ivybridge now upped their game and scored two converted tries in the space of five minutes. The first came when their backs broke through poor tackling by the Crediton defence.

The second came when the Ivybridge winger won a footrace to touch down a ball which had been deftly kicked through the Crediton defensive line.

Crediton again rallied and won a turnover in the home half. Yhe ball was moved quickly through the backs and Chris Simpson cut a fine angle into space to race over for a try, Rob Milton adding the extras.

Straight from the kick off Crediton were on the offensive again and with the forwards producing good ball for the backs Tom Smale carried strongly before putting Bobby Saunders over in the corner for an unconverted try.

The see-saw nature of the game saw Ivybridge hit back almost immediately when their backs finished off several phases of play by scoring in the corner, once again putting Crediton on the back foot.

On 67 minutes Rob Milton reduced the deficit with a penalty kick, taking Crediton to within four points of the Ivybridge lead.

With only minutes left on the clock Crediton won a scrum in the Ivybridge 22 metres area and Rob Milton put Chris Simpson into space where he brushed off several tackles to crash over for a converted try, making the final score 32-29 to Crediton.

An excellent performance by a determined Crediton team who never let up, despite being behind throughout the whole of the game, until they scored in the final minutes of play to achieve a well-deserved victory. Ivybridge had previously gone 25 games unbeaten, a real feather in the cap for the Seconds.

CREDITON THIRDS 8 - TEIGNMOUTH SECONDS 49

Anyone watching the Thirds could well have thought it was a scene from Back to The Future with the mad professor taking us back 10 years with Mark Gulley, Jay Harris, Paul Turner and Paul Tearle joining the likes of Andy Dafters and Kevin Ellis to bolster the numbers.

Little did these veterans know that they would have to endure the full 80 minutes and not just play the first half down the slope!

Teignmouth have swept all before them in the Merit Table this season so this was inevitably going to be an uphill task even with the advantage of the slope.

However, the Thirds put up a tremendous battle and led 8-5 at the interval courtesy of an Andy Dafters try and a Phil Anning penalty.

The second half was very much a rearguard action but the visitors had some strong running backs who did the damage adding 44 second half points without reply.

Nonetheless there were some beaming smiles on show from some older players who revelled in the competition.

CREDITON COLTS 29 - CULLOMPTON COLTS 14

The Colts maintained their winning streak and at the same time ended that of their opponents with an excellent victory over Cullompton.

No 8 Josh Goldman bagged a couple of tries and there was one apiece for Charlie Stevens and Deyan Tomic. Josh Davey added nine points with the boot.

Saturday, November 12

SOUTH MOLTON SECONDS 32 - CREDITON THIRDS 29

South Molton were a big side but the thirds more than held their own and the game was won in the final minute with a penalty for the home side. The game was marred by a serious injury to Crediton centre Sam Matthews who was taken to hospital with a back injury. We all wish him well for a speedy recovery.

EXETER COLTS 26 - CREDITON COLTS 18

Two evenly matched sides produced an excellent game and there was only one point in it going into the final minute.

Exeter scored a last minute try to secure the win. Josh Goldman again grabbed two tries and Josh Davey popped over another eight points with the boot.

Paul Harris