TIVERTON SECONDS 12 - CREDITON SECONDS 17

THE ‘Quins made hard work of their victory at Tiverton on Saturday, October 13 and indeed could well have lost a game that perhaps they should have won by a much bigger margin.

For the first quarter Tivvy barely had a sniff of the ball and we missed out on a number of scoring chances thanks to some desperate defending.

Two tries were disallowed and Tiverton had a player sin-binned for lying on the ball a metre from the line and perhaps we should have had a penalty try.

However, rather like the bus service to Exeter, nothing appears for ages and then three tries came in quick succession.

Chris Hooper was first on the scoresheet and after several phases of possession he used his strength to force his way over.

This was followed by one from skipper Dan Cooper who broke clear after a good handling move. Hooper then added his second in similar fashion to his first and this time he converted.

Shortly before the interval, the home side had a player red carded, somewhat harshly for an alleged punch which, it seems was not felt by any Crediton player!

Ultimately, the decision penalised us more than Tiverton as they had no replacement prop and went to non-contested scrums.

In addition, they were allowed to play seven forwards which meant they retained the same number in the backs which negated any advantage that we should have had.

As a consequence, they battled their way back into the game with two second half tries, one of which was converted and for the last 10 minutes we were hanging on.

To make matters worse, full-back Sam Harris suffered a double fracture of the jaw, purely accidental but as a result of a try-saving tackle, we all wish him a speedy recovery.

COLTS

The Colts also played a friendly at Bideford and ran out winners 66-0 making it seven wins from seven games.

Centre Josh Woodland led the way with four tries, his 16th in eight games this season.

Finlay Morgan and Lewis Warren scored two apiece and there was one each for Will Crang and Sam Reed. Owen Cooper landed seven conversions and Sam Wilson one.

After the one week break from league rugby the First Fifteen resume tomorrow, Saturday, October 20, against a rejuvenated Kingsbridge who are always tough opponents.

The Seconds travel to Bude for a friendly and the Colts begin their Devon Plate campaign with a home game against Torquay.

Paul Harris