FOLLOWING pre-season fitness training at Crediton Rugby Club throughout August, which saw more than 75 girls from ages 10 to 18 training on a Thursday night at the club and finished with the U13s and U15s training on Exmouth beach, the 2018-19 rugby season for Crediton girls has finally started in earnest.

First games of the season were played at home in Crediton in front of many spectators who were able to watch in the lovely sunshine.

Crediton U15 Girls took the 24 – 14 victory, in a hard fought and closely matched contest against Exeter Saracens.

In hot conditions and on hard ground the game ebbed and flowed between the sides, and it was the Crediton side that opened the scoring bursting through the tackles of the opposition to score down in the corner.

Saracens struck back to level the score not long after as the game then settled down into the even contest that transpired.

The Crediton girls dominated the scrummaging, an impressive feat given that half of the girls that played there were in a full and contested scrum for the first time.

This dominance allowed the Crediton backs to run hard and well at the opposition but in the restricted space of a smaller pitch were unable to consistently find the gaps that would surely have helped build a lead by half-time.

With the Saracens team kicking to safety to relieve the pressure the Crediton team had to re-build their attack and did so with some good rucking from the forwards and safe handling and possession from the back line.

The game stayed evenly matched, with the teams trading tries and conversions throughout the hour until, with the final play of the game, Crediton secured the win with a try and conversion that saw them finish as 24-14 winners.

Girls Manager, Suzy Keast, said after the game: “We are delighted with the result and with a first win of the season.

“Our team is a combination of girls that played at U15 last year and girls that have come up from playing U13 to join us.

“They are still coming together as a complete unit, but with the work that our coaches are doing and the application shown by the girls, not to mention an excellent team spirit that is developing, we are looking forward to a successful season ahead.”

Try Scorers – Holly Yeandle x 2, Beth Daw and Millie Twigg.?Conversions – Holly Keast x 2.

The U18 girls had a busy start to the season, with two matches. First game was a nice performance in the five tries to 0 win against Exeter Saracens, followed by a tough physical match in the 3-1 loss against Ding Crusaders from Bristol.

These are great performances for the Crediton teams which have played together for the first time as the girls move up age groups, with many new girls making their debut for Crediton.