Crediton 19 - St Austell 14

WE seem to save our best form for teams that are looking to be likely promotion candidates as we turned in another quality performance against high-flying St Austell (April 9).

Certainly the victory was hard earned and the final score flattered the Saints as they bagged a couple of tries in the final five minutes.

Our dominance in the scrum proved a telling factor as the visitors struggled to cope and and were forced to concede a string of penalties which ultimately proved their downfall.

The early pressure came from St Austell but we defended well and managed to clear up field.

Once we had settled we began to play with confidence and with the referee playing an advantage, we went through several phases before the ball found its way to Devon Hosegood whose angled run sliced through the visiting defence to score. Ollie Avery-Wright landed the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

We continued to dominate territory and possession but another attack broke down and we were turned over.

However, in their effort to run the ball out of defence, St Austell were penalised for crossing and OAW landed the penalty. Shortly before the interval, another collapsed scrum brought a penalty which OAW landed with ease for a 13-0 half-time lead.

Aside from the opening 10 minutes, little had been seen of the visitors as an attacking force although No8 and former Crediton player Kyle Marriott did his best to rally the troops, they continued to struggle at scrum time and when they did have the ball, attacks were quickly cut down with some excellent defending.

Whilst we were dominating the scrum, we were experiencing difficulty at the line out, which has not normally been a problem for us.

The second half continued in a similar pattern, and two more OAW penalties took us to 19-0 and we really looked as though we could prevent St Austell from scoring.

However, in the final 15 minutes they began to create some momentum and we found ourselves on the back foot and as the visitors went through the phases looking for gaps to exploit.

It was fly half Chris Ashwin who darted through only to be tackled short of the line, however his offload found flanker Rory Jago in support and over he went, the quickly taken conversion brought the score to 19-7.

The deep restart kick pinned the visitors deep in their “22” and their efforts to gain any ground were thwarted by some strong defending in the right areas.

However, as the clock went into injury time, a clever kick upfield by winger Fraser Nottle, saw him re-gather and take play well into our half. His inside pass to the fullback took play further towards our line and despite a great tackle he managed to get the ball away to centre Ben Plummer who ran in under the posts.

The simple conversion ended the game and St Austell had earned themselves an unlikely losing bonus point and probably left us somewhat pleased that there was no more time on the clock.

That of course was our last league game of the season and we can now look forward to the Devon Senior Shield Final at Devonport Services on Easter Saturday, April 16. We have enjoyed two close games against them with one win apiece. No doubt they expect to win so let’s go down there and surprise them.

Barnstaple Seconds 48 - Crediton Seconds 31

The winning streak for the Seconds came to something of an unexpected end at Barnstaple on Saturday. Why unexpected?

Well at half-time we were ahead 26-0 but the Barum bench had some power as they managed 48 second half points to our five.

Had the game been played a week earlier, the University boys would not have been at home to make that difference.

Oh well, onwards and upwards, it doesn’t detract from an excellent season for the Seconds.

For the record, Chris Hooper simply cannot stop scoring these days, a contagion that we hope can be transmitted to others, he bagged another two, bringing his total for the season to 19, Ethan Power touched down once, his 10th of the season, and there was one apiece for Tom O’Donnell and Nathan Ronchetti whose brother Tom landed three conversions giving him a total of 94 points for the season.

We did earn a four try bonus point and that keeps us in fourth place in the Merit Table and whilst we are unlikely to move up from fourth, we cannot be overtaken so that is an excellent season for the Seconds.

Ilfracombe 54 - Crediton Thirds 0

Yet another toughie for the Thirds, Ilfracombe have improved considerably over the last couple of months and whilst it was a big defeat, it did not ruin the bus ride home.

The Thirds have finished their Merit Table games and have ended up at the foot of the table.

However, that is something of a false position for them because for this season only, and in an effort to encourage rather than discourage clubs and players, points were not deducted for walkovers. Had that been done, then we would have finished mid table.

Crediton Colts 17 - Kingsbridge Colts 14

This friendly was arranged so that both Clubs could use it to bring on some of the under 16’s into the Colts set up in preparation for next season. For some reason, Kingsbridge changed their mind!

A close game was enjoyed by all and we ran out winners by three points. Harry Grigg, James Howard and Ben Harris all put in impressive performances and showed that they will slip seamlessly into Colts rugby next season as no doubt will many of this years Under 16’s.

Louis Gulley, Ben Butland and Harris each scored a try with Kofi Firth adding a conversion.

The Colts have their Devon Colts Shield Final against Brixham at Kingsbridge RFC on Sunday April 24, KO 2pm.

On the same day, the Under 16s will play Teignmouth in the Final of the Fisherman’s Shield at Brixham RFC, KO 1pm.

It will be extremely difficult to support both teams as they are in different places but hopefully we can be at both finals in force. Just a thought to bear in mind, there are four finals taking place at each venue so parking at both grounds will be difficult.

Finally, congratulations to the Crediton Cougars Ladies who were confirmed as Champions of the Women’s National Championship 2 South West (West).

A superb season for the Ladies and they can look forward to moving up a level in 2022-23.

Paul Harris