Crediton 15 - Thornbury 31

RATHER disappointingly, Thornbury completed the double over us and deservedly so, with a performance that was based on quick movement and a desire to get the ball to their backs at almost every opportunity.

The Thorns strength was without doubt the pace of their three-quarter line which did for us on each of their four tries.

That is not to say we played particularly badly, indeed for much of the game we were camped well in their half and spent far more time in their “22” than they did in ours, the difference was that they took their chances and we did not take ours. Defensively, Thornbury were very good although we did contribute to our own downfall on a couple of occasions when within touching distance of their line only to concede a penalty at a critical moment.

We had an early opportunity to open the scoring with a penalty as Thornbury were penalised for not releasing in the tackle, unfortunately Ollie Avery-Wrights kick drifted wide.

We controlled much of the game for the opening quarter but the visitors outstanding defence held its line and when they did get hands on the ball, they looked a real threat. Thornbury thought they had scored 15 minutes in with a flowing move but the final pass was forward, that was certainly a warning as to what they were capable of.

However, within minutes, they did get the first score when fly half Jack Pinker slotted a penalty after a high tackle. We continued to dominate territory and possession and some good carries from Luke Mingo, Ben Wonnacott and Chris Courtier did cause problems for Thornbury but we were unable to finish off.

On 25 minutes, Thornbury scored again with an attack from depth using the entire back line with some impressive offloads creating room for the busy Pinker to run clear down the left touchline for a try which he converted for a 10-0 lead.

OAW reduced the deficit with a penalty for a high tackle and at 3-10 we were still very much in the game. However, Pinker struck again when the Thornbury forwards created the attack with some passing between them before offloading to the fly half who went in under the posts, he converted the try for 3-17 at the interval.

We started the second half and pinned the visitors on their own line but eventually were held up over the line and the goal line drop out eased the pressure.

However, on the hour mark, Thornbury managed their first spell in our “22” during the second period and fullback Alfie Richardson received the ball in space and took on our defence. He chipped through and won the footrace to touch down, Pinker converted for 3-24, at which time it certainly looked like game over.

We were desperate to get more points on the board and eventually it was hooker Dan Yendell who forced his way over, OAW converted and at 10-24 we thought there may be a chance of a comeback.

Unfortunately, it was not to be as Thornbury soon responded with their bonus point try and again it was the pace of their backs that caused the problems and replacement winger Sam Garrett burst through to score at the posts, Pinker converted for a personal tally of 21 points.

We continued to battle away, and were rewarded with a consolation score at the end when fullback Josh Davey crossed out wide, the difficult conversion from the touchline struck the post.

As was said earlier, this was not a bad performance from our perspective, we worked extremely hard and dominated territory and possession for much of the game. It was simply that, whilst we created opportunities, we were unable to convert them into points. The game was played in a very good spirit and well controlled by Devon Ref Adam Nicholas. Thornbury are a very much improved side and are now on a run of six successive victories and on this form, they look very capable of a top three or four finish.

Crediton Seconds 24 - Exmouth Seconds 34

For much of this game, we looked the likely winners, having earned a half-time lead playing up the slope. The scrum was totally dominant over the Exmouth eight.

With the benefit of the slope in the second half, we should have been able to at least hold on to the lead if not increase it. Games can change on a single incident and in this case it was an injury to an Exmouth front row forward which meant that they had to go to non contested scrums. The obvious effect was to take away the part of our game that we dominated.

The game started badly when we went down to 13 men with two players sin-binned following a high tackle and a trip up tackle. Exmouth took the lead while we were short numbered. We then had a try disallowed when Tyler Farley chased a chip kick from Tom Ronchetti into the dead ball area. Tyler touched it down but the referee was unsighted.

We kept the pressure on with continuous attacking scrums and Exmouth conceding penalties. Eventually, No8 Chris Hooper scored a try which was converted by Tom Ronchetti. Soon after drawing level a Tom Ronchetti left footed clearance kick bounced kindly for Tyler Farley who sprinted half the pitch length to score at the posts, Ronchetti added the conversion.

Just before the break both teams kicked penalties to make the half-time score 17-13 to Crediton. Early in the second half Exmouth had a second front row injury which meant the game went to uncontested scrums and a powerful part of our game was nullified.

This seemed to effect us and we started to fall off tackles and give away penalties and conceded two converted tries in short time. Another try and penalty took Exmouth clear before Josh Atkinson, following some excellent running, handling and quick rucks, finished a consolation try in the dying minutes. Tom R kicked the conversion.

Exmouth Seconds have always been a strong team and, had the game not gone to uncontested scrums, the chances are we would probably have won the game, at least there is no good reason to suppose otherwise.

Exmouth Thirds 71 - Crediton Thirds 5

Games against Exmouth Thirds are always challenging and played in a good spirit, the result will tell us that we were indeed up against it. However, heads never dropped and we kept going until the final whistle.

The players enjoyed the game between the only two remaining Third XVs in Devon. It says much that, given the number of players that were not available, we still managed to put out a Third XV with replacements. Mike Sherring-Lucas scored our consolation try.

Paul Harris

Newton Abbot Colts 36 - Crediton Colts 24

In their final game before Christmas, the colts may have come up short against Newton Abbot on the scoreboard but once again they played some excellent rugby with an attitude and spirit that was a credit to them all.

The game could be described as the cliched game of two halves, although we were arguably on top for three quarters of the match and were undone by fresher legs and a period playing with 14 men.

In saying that, Newton Abbot are clearly a useful outfit, particularly when they let their rugby do the talking.

There was no score during the opening 30 minutes of the game but, when it came, it was the Kirton lads who took a deserved lead. We’d had the edge in terms of territory and possession and after a couple of half chances had been and gone, we took one. The ball was worked wide to winger Josh Edwards who, with the attention of a couple of defenders managed a cheeky offload to Taylor Wonnacott who ran in from 20 metres. Hayden Gosling added the extras to make it 0-7.

Five minutes later, we were over for our second. This one was a bit more crash and bang when, after several pick and goes from the pack, Wonnacott drove over again. The conversion was missed but we were 0-12 ahead. Most watches had that as half-time but play continued.

From the restart we gave away a scrum, quickly followed by a penalty. Newton went for the corner and a well worked catch and drive gave them a converted score. It was 7-12 at the break.

With a large match-day squad on the day, Newton rang the changes at half-time and got off to a flier when two minutes in we were caught short wide out. The space was exploited well and another converted score put the home side 14-12 up.

It was this third quarter where the game got away from us as Newton played their best rugby of the day. We were stretched again on eight minutes and the home side were awarded a penalty try after Freddie Blackburn’s last-ditch tackle was judged high. It also resulted in a yellow card.

Three quick scores between the minute 16 and minute 22 suddenly had us 36-12 behind. However, you write these lads off at your peril and if the home side thought the lads in black and amber “didn’t want it” they were perhaps a little misinformed.

Having struggled for possession for a period, we got our hands back on the ball and started playing again on the front foot. The interplay between backs and forwards was excellent and we were working hard to keep the ball alive.

With five minutes to go, we were rewarded with a try as Kofi Firth went over. Gosling converted for 36-19. Back we came again, and with the final play of the game, some more good teamwork created an opportunity for Tom Gray to go over in the corner. The conversion was wide, and the final whistle blew. FT 36-24.

It’s been a fantastic first half of the season for these lads who should be proud of how they play and how they conduct themselves. Enjoy the break and see you in the New Year!

Jay Harris

Boxing Day Fixture - Kevin Ellis Cavaliers v Three little Pigs.

The Crediton RFC Directors and Committee wish all the Courier readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year…and above all Stay Safe.