CREDITON Rugby Club Girls Under 18s opened their National Cup campaign in a hard fought close game against Cullompton last Saunday (September 29). The inclement conditions impacted on the style of rugby to be played and this was highlighted in a first half that was a really tight and dominated by the forwards of both teams.

With a wet ball and gusty wind, the opening exchanges consisted of breakdown after breakdown, with the Crediton team stoically moving up the centre of the pitch while Cullompton worked tirelessly in defence in an attempt to hold back the irresistible force.

In the end Kirton Captain Emily Blatchford grasped the opportunity to pick and go from the back of another breakdown just two metres out to drive over the line and open the scoring in favour of the Black and Amber clad girls.

Unfortunately for the home side, Cullompton came right back from a kick off, securing the ball and creating space long run in to score the equalising try.

However, Crediton were not to be deterred from their aim and created a chance for Grace Eckford to embark on a jinking solo run through the black and red defenders, maintaining possession and scoring with an excellent effort under the posts, allowing for a successful conversion.

With the teams being tightly matched, again Cullompton came back to even the scores with a try just wide of the Crediton posts, but missed their second conversion.

Throughout the first half Crediton never managed to take full advantage provided by having the wind at their backs and even when pinned in their own 22, until winger Caitlyn Yeandle grasped the opportunity and cleared the line to create territory for the home side to defend again.

With a full squad of 22 and the “Half Game Rule” in application, (the Half Game Rule dictates that every player attending a game must be played for at least half of the match), changes were made for the second half and this enforced upheaval saw Crediton become a little less disciplined, making errors in ball handling and missed tackles.

However they did make more use of their kicking game, with substitute full-back Clara kicking for territory.

This improved kicking approach, allowed the home team to capitalise on a bout of ill-discipline in the visitors and a number of penalties went Crediton’s way, where they kicked to touch to get the lineout.

The Crediton lineout’s worked well especially when considering the conditions, until Cullompton cottoned on to this advantage and started competing more and applying pressure to them.

The second half was much like the first, a really close affair, but unlike the first 30 minutes, Crediton never managed to get back across the Cullompton line whilst the visitors struck twice, meaning a final score of 12-22.

Even though the game didn’t go their way, the Crediton coaching team remained positive, saying: “All in all it was a very good game. We competed through the match but small errors caused us to lose possession, making it harder for us to maintain consistent pressure.”

They continued: “There were many more positives than negatives and we can work on the negatives in training to improve again.”

The Coaches finished by adding: “Thank you to Shane Bayley for stepping in to referee at short notice, to James Denham for running the line, to the kitchen volunteers for cooking, the two Sophie’s for being physio’s and Lisa Daw for first aid cover.

“Lastly, thank you to all of the supporters for making the effort to come along, the girls really do play better with a vociferous local crowd providing the encouragement.”

The Crediton Player of the Day was Millie Follet for her outstanding workrate, attitude and application.