Bridgwater 13 - Crediton 31

CREDITON RFC First XV continued its impressive run with another superb bonus point victory at Bridgwater.

Injuries and unavailabilities meant a much changed team made the journey to Somerset. To add to the problems, an accident on the M5 delayed the arrival of Chris Courtier and Will Cole who joined the game for the second half.

However, despite the changes, it provided an opportunity for the coaching staff to look at other players who are pushing for a First XV place.

Honours were even during the early exchanges and it was the home side that set the scoreboard moving with a penalty on eight minutes as we were caught offside defending in our “22”.

That in fact was about as good as it got for our hosts as within minutes, we were ahead.

After winning good line out ball in the Bridgwater half, the ball was moved quickly wide to winger Bobby Komo Jenkin who made good ground before putting centre Ollie Clark over for a try with a subtle inside pop pass, skipper Ollie Avery Wright adding the extras.

Bridgwater hit back with a second penalty on 21 minutes following a Crediton infringement in the contact area but generally, we were beginning to get the upper-hand.

It was no big surprise that we increased our lead when a deft chip over the top of the Bridgwater defence by Ollie Avery Wright was well gathered by No 8 Ben Wonnacott who then put Bobby Komo Jenkin into space to go over for a try.

Ollie Avery Wright again added the extras. Bridgwater struck back almost immediately when a loose ball dropped by Crediton was picked up by a Bridgwater player who raced in under the posts for a converted try and reduced our lead to a single point at the interval.

Crediton began the second half strongly and were soon camped deep in the Bridgwater half.

On 51 minutes the lead was  extended with a strong catch and drive off of line out ball, with Will Cole getting the final touch down for an unconverted try.

It was Cole again on 65 minutes when sustained Crediton pressure deep in the home half produced several good phases of play before he forced his way over the whitewash to score the bonus point try, ably assisted by his team mates. Ollie Avery Wright adding the extras.

Whilst Bridgwater never gave up, the Crediton defence held firm and prevented them gaining any real momentum in attack. The final bit of icing on the cake came on 79 minutes when centre Ross Toms made a strong break from the half way line before putting Ed Brady into space to go over for an unconverted try, making the final score 13 – 31 to Crediton.

This was another strong performance from the players, made even more pleasing with the individual performances of the players who had stepped up, proving that there is good depth in this season’s squad of players, which will undoubtedly be beneficial as the season unfolds.

Tiverton Seconds 5 - Crediton Seconds 62

Playing in their first ever league fixture, the Quins gained an emphatic victory at Tiverton.

The result was even more impressive bearing in mind the number of regulars missing either not available or filling gaps in the First XV. They rattled up 10 tries with two apiece from scrum half Fenton Davies, Skipper Chris Hooper, and winger Joe Dodge with one each from Bobby Saunders, Josh Atkinson, Matt Pearce and Ben Rodd.

Fly half Owen Cooper landed six conversions.

Crediton Thirds 35 - Bideford Seconds 38

The Thirds were due to play their Merit Table game against Tiverton Thirds but regrettably, Tivvy could not raise a team.

As it happened, Bideford’s scheduled Merit Table opponents were also unable to put a team together.

Bideford were good enough to travel to Crediton and between them, the two sides produced a thoroughly entertaining game that could have gone either way, as the scoreline suggests.

Bideford turned up with 14 players but such is the generous spirit of the players, Jamie Acton and Travis Baker agreed to play half a game each for Bideford.

It was the visitors who settled first and after 15 minutes were two tries to the good and it was certainly looking as though it would be a long afternoon for the Thirds. Certainly, Bideford had a sharp looking set of backs that were likely to cause problems throughout the game.

Fortunately, things changed thanks to a piece of opportunism from fly half Hayden Hill who cheekily intercepted a Bideford pass and raced in from the 10 metre line and landed the conversion himself.

Another Hill try soon followed after some excellent play from the backs and suddenly we were all square at 14 all.

For the remainder of the half we camped ourselves in the Bideford “22” but were not able to add further points although the players felt a little hard done by having got over the line three times but no try resulting.

The second half began in somewhat typical fashion as the Thirds had a spell of shuteye during which time Bideford took full advantage as they racked up tries much to our dismay. It certainly looked like game over at 14-38 down with just 20 minutes remaining.

However, a sudden change and the 3rds came back to life and began to reassert themselves and after a tremendous threequarter move Matt Ballman executed a perfectly timed pass to put John Gurzynski in for a try, Hill adding the extras.

Elliott White was next on the scoresheet after the ball had travelled through many pairs of hands, Hill again converting. Suddenly, we were only 10 points adrift, could the victory be achieved?

Well it was not for the want of trying and when centre Matt Karea created a gap to dart through and score, Hill making it a seven pointer.

Sadly, time ran out and the three point defeat was certainly an honourable one and, in a couple of weeks the two teams will meet again in a Merit Table fixture and will hopefully produce an equally entertaining game.

Special mention mention to Hayden Hill who began the initial fightback and ended the game with 20 points. Ales Hutchins making his first appearance in a Crediton shirt since 2011 and Mark Abrahams who last appeared in 2012. Really great to see players returning and enjoying the game.

On a sadder note, Paul Ratchford suffered a broken wrist and we wish him well for a speedy recovery. It was also debut time for Senior Matthew Karea and Caoimhin Fogarty who contributed to a great all round performance.

Exeter Athletic Colts 10 - Crediton Colts 17

The Colts started their Devon Colts Competition campaign on Saturday, September 17.  The first stage of the competition consists of six leagues of four teams, arranged around geographical location.

We have been drawn with Exeter Athletic, Exeter Saracens and Cullompton.  Playing each team once, the final league positions will determine who progresses to the Cup, Shield, Bowl or Plate.

Each of these competitions will consist of four leagues of six teams playing each other twice, the top two competing in the final.

And so to the opening game where, after a hard fought encounter at “Bravelands”, we came out on top winning 10-17.  With limited preparation heading into the fixture, the performance was, at times, a little rusty but there were several glimpses of real quality.

Tries from Marli Maddick, Tariq Sayers and a penalty try were enough to secure victory and four points.  Well played lads, a great start.

On Saturday, September 24 the First XV entertain Chard and the Quins are at home to Buckfastleigh, both league games. The thirds travel to Honiton for a Merit Table fixture and the Colts go to Bideford for a Cup fixture.

Paul Harris