THE Crediton U15’s Girls arrived for their opening match of the National Cup last Sunday (September 29) determined to put in a performance to warm the home crowd on a blustery, drizzly autumnal afternoon.

After an excellent training session on Thursday the girls lived up to their promise to carry the determination, desire and commitment they’d shown into their game.

And boy! Did they deliver. From the first minute until the last they gave everything they had physically, technically and mentally to deliver a resounding victory over Mid Devon rivals Cullompton.

Their opponents, by their own admission, had a team lacking in experience in this age group but the Kirton Girls paid no heed to this and powered their way to a 50-0 half-time lead.

There was everything for the rugby connoisseur to enjoy in a sparkling first half. The disciplined execution of rucking, mauling, passing, use of space and excellent communication were all of the highest standard and would have been more than a handful for any team unfortunate enough to encounter the black and ambers on a day like today.

The girls showed fantastic awareness of the situation and took full advantage of the slope and wind in their favour working tremendously hard to build an unassailable position, knowing the prevailing conditions would be against them in the second half.

Try after try flooded over the visitors line, two or three returned with interest straight from kick off’s, others added after strong running and support and yet more from just plain excellent teamwork.

After discussions between the coaches, the Crediton side altered their planned changes for the second half, removing some of their more experienced girls, for what was hoped to be a more even second period.

What hadn’t been reckoned on though was the steel and bravery of Crediton’s newer and/or less experienced contingent as they fought up the slope and into the wind to overcome the natural obstacles and a Cullompton side who had grown into the game and were determined to do themselves proud.

With obdurate defence and resolute, purposeful attack the Crediton side traded tries with the black and red visitors, each taking it in turns to score as they shared the first six tries of the second half.

Two quick scores from Crediton before a final push and score from Cullompton saw the valiant black and ambers come home 29-26 in the half to provide an absolutely emphatic final score of 79-26.

Although outgunned on this occasion, the Cullompton girls showed a great spirit and improved in every area as the game went on and their sterling efforts were appreciated and applauded by the home crowd.

It wasn’t just the visitors that were blown away in the gusty conditions, the Kirton coaches spent the game enthused by the girls continued appetite for more, and afterwards struggled to find the words for their pride in the team.

“This performance was a huge step forward for us today. The girls were electric from the get go and, it seemed to us, every player today played at the very top of their game.

“We are moving towards the stage where selecting a 15 is easy because everyone can be relied on to do their job and, in a weird juxtaposition, harder because every girl deserves a place in the side.”

They continued: “The highest praise we can bestow on the girls is a comment afterwards from one of the Cullompton coaches who said to us that their team learned a lot from us today, in terms of organisation, commitment, communication and teamwork.”

The coaches added that: “It was almost a perfect day today. The game was played in a tremendous spirit, the crowd were both enthusiastic for the fare served up to them and hugely appreciative of the efforts of the opposition efforts, and by the end of the game, the sun had even come out for us.

“As always thank you to those parents who volunteered to help out with admin and kitchen duties. To our ref today who was seconded to duty just yesterday and to Girls Manager Suzy for making that happen.”

The girls now begin a run of away games all over the county, starting in North Devon next week and based on what was seen today, they should hold no fear for any side they encounter.

If they continue to work hard to improve and face the challenges ahead with respect and determination, this will be a successful season for the young Crediton Ladies.