THE first game of the season for Crediton Under 15’s Girls rugby team took place on Sunday, September 17 - a sunny afternoon in Cullompton.

Crediton fielded 13 players but Cullompton with 18+ players chose not to lend us a couple, due to them having several new players, so opted for 13-a-side. Cully’s ability to use the extra players as rolling subs would prove a significant advantage towards the end of the game.

Crediton made a great start, though, and playing up the slope proved no disadvantage as they dominated the first 20 minutes play.

After only four minutes, Grace scored the first try, helped by her nifty footballing skills as she approached the line.

Cully counter-attacked, but Crediton put in some impressive play, including some confident defensive play from Abbie.

Then, following a scrum collapse and a pause for Tilly to recover from an injury, Grace scored her second try, behind the posts, having run in from the edge of the pitch following captain Tegan’s bellow (so loud it echoed off the distant houses) of “BEHIND THE POSTS, GRACE!”

From this point on, though, the game began to turn a bit, despite lots of promising team play and some great individual performances from Crediton – perhaps their early dominance made the girls over-confident, or perhaps it had motivated Cully to try that bit harder, but whatever the cause, the remainder of the first half was played mainly in Crediton’s half, with the Yellows mainly on the defensive.

Special mention for Ella, who stepped up as a forward for the first time and gained some good scrum experience in the first half.

Despite sustained pressure from Cully, Crediton didn’t panic and defended well, but now perhaps playing uphill was beginning to tell.

The intensive pre-match revision of lifting still needs some more practice, and following two line-outs near the Crediton line, Cullompton were rewarded for their persistence with a try after 26 minutes, and then another four minutes later.

During the second Cully try, Beth was injured, and spent the rest of the first half on the touchline, but following the stoppage, Crediton set about counter attacking with a renewed purpose.

The half ended with no further tries, so with level scores, but Crediton had won pretty much every scrum in the half, tough scrummaging for the front three of Esther, Tilly and Evie, and generally felt they’d been the stronger team in the first half.

The Yellows were a bit sluggish at the start of the second half, with Cully again taking the play deep into Crediton’s half. Beth made an excellent try-saving tackle, and there were also excellent tackles from Lily and Eloise.

Following a prolonged stoppage for an injury to Evie, Grace made a great break and ran home her third try.

However, with Evie off for the remainder of the match, we were playing with only 12 to their 13, and their use of subs meant our players were visibly tiring quicker than Cully’s.

Cullompton pressed hard from the restart and despite some good defence, they levelled the score again just a couple of minutes later.

Despite the run of the play now being with Cully, Crediton continued to play well, with great efforts from Beth, Holly Y, Laura and Fiona, amongst others.

Two further tries from Cullompton took the final score to 25-15, but the Crediton girls came off the field smiling, knowing they’d played well as individuals and as a team, and defending well against a team using rolling subs when they themselves were tired.

Plenty to work on, but a creditable first performance of the season, and a great atmosphere amongst the team post-match, with only a couple of players without their post-match socks and flip flops.

A home game against Devonport is scheduled for this weekend.

If any 11+ year-old girls are interested in playing please do not hesitate to contact Crediton RFC.

Training Thursday nights 6pm to 7.15pm, with matches most Sundays.

Suzy Keast