CREDITON RFC 3RD XV 45-15 SOUTH MOLTON 2ND XV

IT was another sunny afternoon at Blagdon and it set the stage for a fantastic display of grassroots rugby with the 3rd XV hosting South Molton 2nds.

We got off to a good start and within minutes our backs managed to put the ball through many hands to find Victor Oldland on the wing 15 metres out.

He pinned his ears back and raced over the line to open the scoring and, with Tom Cooper returning from injury and slotting the extras, we were 7-0 up.

Molton soon fought back with a barrage of attacks and working their way into our territory to score a well-deserved team try.

Joe Warren kicked off his man-of-the-match performance with try to put us ahead, however the ball was in Molton’s possession for the most of the half, and they soon scored again.

A strong rolling maul caused us some trouble before they broke away for the try. We lost a bit of discipline, giving away a kickable penalty which the visitors gratefully received.

To their credit, South Molton were pretty dominant in the first half, with strong running and support causing us to dig deep a defend our hearts out. Had we not done this they would have piled on the points!

14-15 down at the interval, some harsh words were needed to encourage the lads to play like they have recently. With the luxury of having many players wanting to play for our club we were able to bring seven pairs of fresh legs on.

Joe Warren was first to lift the burden for the lads with a superb solo try dancing around the defence and slipping off tackles from the half way line to score. Captain Ben Rodd was next with his trademark route one running to crash over the line.

Joe Wreford followed suit and, after many hard runs all game, finally bashed his way over for 5 points.

With things not going their way, our guests were unfortunate to get two yellows within minutes of each other and it was the backs who exploited the gaps, Owen Cooper and Tom Cooper back playing 9 and 10 together controlled the last 10 minutes, finding hands and space for the ball to reach Sam Borthan on the wing to run and score.

Joe Warren worked his magic again with silky hands to put Josh Noon into a gap, Noon made his way to the try line beating two defenders to score his first try for Crediton RFC!

A hard-fought victory for the 3rds against tough opposition, and huge credit goes to Molton for a great game and we look forward to seeing them at Unicorn Park in December.

This coming Saturday, November 15, the 1st XV have an early opportunity to get revenge as we host Tiverton in the Semi Final of the Devon Senior Shield. The Colts welcome Kingsbridge in the Colts Cup.

Rob Avery-Wright, John Gurzynski and Jay Harris