SIDMOUTH 30 - CREDITON 19

IT was quite fitting that the Devon Intermediate Cup Final on Saturday, April 20 should be played between the winners and runners-up in the league and whilst the home side thoroughly deserved their victory, it would be fair to say we did not do ourselves justice.

There was no doubting the commitment of the players but we never reached the standard of our league form.

The early signs looked good as we went into an early three-point lead courtesy of an Ollie Avery-Wright penalty when Sidmouth backs were caught offside.

The greens responded quickly with a good try up the left touchline for a 5-3 lead. Our response was equally quick when Ed Brady fielded a Sidmouth clearance and raced through the middle before offloading to Jason Luff who made further ground before putting Colt Josh Woodland away for a great try in the corner to retake the lead 8-5.

Another Sidmouth try soon followed for 10-8 but Avery-Wright struck another penalty and we were ahead by a single point.

Sadly, that is as good as it got for us as two more converted tries for the hosts and another Avery-Wright penalty left us trailing 14-22 at the interval.

An early second half drop goal for Sidmouth put us 11 points adrift. However, we then had our best spell and for 20 minutes or so dominated territory but the Sidmouth defence was always on top and we struggled to make a breakthrough.

The final 10 minutes saw the home side grab a couple more converted tries although we did have the final say after several phases, skipper Henry Gavin forced his way over.

We did not help ourselves on occasions when promising moves were let down by the final pass and we did tend to drop off tackles and concede penalties at crucial times, whether thoughts and minds were on a different prize ie. the play-off game at Midsomer Norton tomorrow, Saturday, April 28, is hard to tell but I am sure the players will lift themselves for that one.

TIVERTON VETERANS 16

CREDITON VETERANS 28

The much-anticipated Veterans game on April 21, played as a part of the Tiverton RFC 150th Anniversary, lived up to expectations with an almost flawless performance from the Crediton Vets, made even more remarkable as the game was played in temperatures that reached 26 degrees.

The players showed no signs that the intervening years from their regular playing days had blunted their sharpness but unfortunately, where the mind was willing, in many cases the legs and hands didn’t always respond!

Nonetheless, there were many glimpses of days past and in the end we proved too strong for the home side. We were so fortunate to have so many players who were desperate to play in this game and who, at half-time probably wished they hadn’t!

The continual use of rolling replacements helped the cause but also created confusion.

An early try from hooker Scott Baker (who had refereed our game at Sidmouth the day before but was welcomed back into the fold with no hard feelings!) got the game off to a flying start as he was on the end of a flowing move before sidestepping the Tivvy defence to score under the posts.

Ant Evans landed the simple conversion…just for a 7-0 lead.

Tivvy battled back and a neat chip over the defence combined with a favourable bounce which caught us flat-footed and gave an easy opportunity for winger Barney Bell to score out wide, the conversion was missed so 7-5 to Crediton.

Johnny Adams lived up to his nickname of Ghosty as he appeared from nowhere to break a couple of tackles and ghost in for another try under the posts which Evans converted, this time with more room to spare.

Ghosty eventually made way, somewhat reluctantly for his brother Richard Adams (no nickname here) to enter the fray.

The game was being played at such a pace that it made walking rugby look – well, walking I suppose! The booming boot of Mark Gulley had to be relied on to clear our lines occasionally and one reverse pass from scrum-half Ash Wonnacott had to be seen to be believed.

Lee Antony on the left-wing had the odd chance to show his pace whereas David Evans on the other wing was relieved that he didn’t get the same opportunities.

Captain, and organiser of the team, Toby Newstead, was in fine form in the front row until his knee gave out after two minutes, well to be fair he did make to the second half.

Mark Bolt, at prop, did what props used to do in his era and dropped the ball over the line when it was easier to score than not.

Jay Harris and Eddie Yeandle took up from where they left off years ago to form a dynamic second row pairing and indeed it was Yeandle who bagged the third try, again under the posts leaving Evans with yet another easy conversion for a 21-5 interval lead.

The arrival of former flying winger Andy Murray would normally have put fear in the mind of opponents but in fact had little effect.

Lock Mike Grigg was in imperious form in the lineout, surprisingly catching most throws that came his way and with half the rugby playing population of Thorverton turning out in the form of Sam Fice, who managed most of the game without damage to his glass shoulder and the fearless Andy Hawkes, the forwards were a competitive bunch.

Andy Dafters’ boundless enthusiasm kept the players motivated even in the face of adversity when the bones creaked and the muscles ached. Mark Alder was another who showed touches of his former self weaving his magic right and then left, forward then back before disappearing up the proverbial and totally confusing the rest of the backs, so much so that Geoff James forgot which way we were playing.

Centre Andy Bluff was the first to concede defeat to injury after about 25 minutes, he did well to last that long and not long after Toby’s injury, prop Rob May followed suit but neither left the field without putting in a tremendous performance.

There were so many options all over the pitch with Richard John coming on at scrum-half showing all his guile and Ben Breeze making a guest appearance also showed that he still has pace.

On one occasion, Breeze was clear and looked certain to score but generously passed the ball inside to someone in support. That would never have happened 25 years ago and sadly the support player was too tired to catch the ball and the opportunity was missed.

Matt Chiverton and Sam Miller battled gamely throughout their turn on the pitch, both finding it easier to be tackled than not. Mark Gibson was somewhat confused at times having played for both sides at various times during the game but was undoubtedly a great help when a medic was required, although Danny Howard looked as though he knew what he was doing in that role.

Paul Currey also turned out and ran about a bit as did Dan Wonnacott and both have now got the bug and we certainly expect them to be available next season.

In the meantime, the Tiverton Vets had found a second wind, or maybe the first had only just kicked in as they hit back with an unconverted try and at 21-10 things were getting edgy but any fears of a home comeback were soon put to rest.

With the leap of a leopard and the pace of a cheetah, Kevin Ellis pounced on a loose ball 10 metres out and sprinted to the line for a fourth try, no bonus point though, which Ben Breeze promptly converted as he was the only other player near the ball at the time, 28-10.

Tiverton did have the final word with a late try for a final score of 28-15.

There is an old saying, “The forwards win games but the backs decide by how many” and it has to be said, all the tries were scored by forwards and three conversions came from a player who looked like one.

I leave the reader to draw any conclusions from that. The eagerness amongst the squad for a return game next season was clear to see immediately post match so 10 months recovery and two months training should be the order of the day.

What a wonderful afternoon was shared by everyone, so many familiar if slightly older and more rounded faces were there almost too many to mention.

They came with families and friends and thanks to Tiverton RFC for hosting the game and we certainly congratulate them on reaching their 150th Anniversary and a huge thanks to Toby Newstead for organising our end of it.

Paul Harris