CREDITON 43 - TIVERTON 12

THE Mid Devon Derby has seldom had such importance for both Clubs as we desperately needed the points to give ourselves a lifeline in our efforts to get out of the relegation spots and Tiverton looking for an outcome in their favour to avoid being dragged into the battle to avoid the drop.

The two sides have struggled since the New Year having registered only one win between them in that time and confidence was at a low ebb in both camps.

Things did not look too good for us despite an encouraging opening few minutes and it was Tivvy who opened the scoring when their left-winger dashed up the touchline and cut inside to release the backs and flanker Oli King was up in support to go over in the corner after eight minutes.

We continued to press and a penalty was kicked to the corner and the resulting lineout produced a catch and drive try with scrum-half Josh Lee getting the touch down. Brother Mark landed the conversion for a 7-5 lead on 18 minutes.

We continued to have the better of things and the lead was increased on the half-hour with another catch and drive try, this time No 8 Mark Nott getting the ball to ground, Mark Lee again converting and he added a penalty on the stroke of half-time for a 17-5 interval lead.

An early second half score would certainly kill the game off and it came courtesy of a well-worked move involving forwards and backs and ending with flanker Ben Wonnacott crashing over.

Confidence was returning to the Crediton side as every minute ticked by and we went in search of the all important bonus point try.

We did not have to wait long as the game was taken away from the visitors in a 20-minute spell during which time centre Jason Luff ran in a quickfire hat-trick.

The first on 50 minutes when a good three-quarter move opened up the Tiverton defence and he went through a gap to score.

Eight minutes later his break down the left saw him clear and in at the posts and finally on 70 minutes he neatly picked his way through a creaking defence for another try at the posts. Mark Lee converted all three.

The final 10 minutes saw us reduced to 13 men with a couple of yellow cards, for high tackles as Tiverton battled for pride as much as anything.

They did reduce the arrears in the final minute when we simply ran out of defenders and their winger Tom Emmanuel went over in the corner. Fly-half Callum Stone landed a difficult conversion with the final kick of the game.

With all the other results in the bottom five going our way, we lifted ourselves off the bottom rung but certainly not out of the fire yet.

Only six points now separate the bottom five Clubs and on paper at least our remaining games give us a fighting chance although Wellington would appear to have a slightly easier run-in than the other four clubs.

Starting away at Burnham in a week’s time we need to string some results together although it could all come down to the final game of the season when we entertain Wellington.

TIVERTON SECONDS 5 - CREDITON QUINS 15

Crediton Seconds travelled to neighbours Tiverton for a Devon Merit Table One League encounter. As with previous meetings between these two sides the game started very competitively with each side probing away for a break, and both sides defences snuffing out any opportunities..

The first half was littered with a succession of scrummages which prevented any fluency in the game but it was the Crediton side which began to get on top.

Crediton took the lead after 30 minutes following a period of sustained pressure and the home side were penalised for handling on the floor. Fly-half Tom Ronchetti coolly popped over the penalty.

Right on half-time the ‘Quins went further ahead when a series of pick and drives by the forwards sucked in the Tiverton defenders and Ronchetti broke through a gap to touch down under the posts, adding the extras himself for a 10-point interval lead.

The second half was a battle of attrition with both sides cancelling each other out, and whilst the ‘Quins were getting forward domination and space being created in the backs, Tiverton were fiercely competitive in the contact areas preventing Crediton from winning any decent quick ball.

On 53 minutes Crediton went further ahead. Winning a scrum in the Tiverton half, the Crediton backs produced another strong move which saw centre Dan Lewis force his way over for an unconverted try.

With Crediton now dominating all areas of play, it was Tiverton who actually got the last score of the game. Winning a line out close to the Crediton line they produced a powerful catch and drive to power over the Crediton line for an unconverted try, making the final score 15-5 to Crediton.

This was a very workmanlike performance by the Crediton team who played with a lot of control and patience throughout to get a worthy win against a strongly competitive Tiverton side.

CREDITON THIRDS 53 - WITHYCOMBE SECONDS 5

The Third Fifteen completely overwhelmed Withycombe Seconds in an eight-try romp.

Hooker Dan Yendall, flanker Tom Luxmore and replacement back row forward Will Jermyn each bagged a brace of tries with veteran prop Kev Ellis and winger Joe Green touching down once. Full-back Phil Anning converted one but slotted over five penalties.

NEWTON ABBOT COLTS 10 - CREDITON COLTS 35

Although too late to give themselves a chance of making the final, the Colts certainly made amends for their earlier narrow home loss to Newton Abbot.

Centre, Callum Barrett went in for a hat-trick of tries and there was one apiece for Ethan Pearce and Deyan Tomic.

Fly-half Josh Davey, who has proved such a reliable player this season, converted all five to take his points tally for the season to 134, a fine achievement.

Paul Harris