CREDITON 17 - TIVERTON 13

DESPITE the hard-earned win against local rivals Tiverton on Saturday, April 14, the position so far as relegation is concerned, remains largely unchanged.

Certainly we have moved up a place and it is now Torquay who are in the drop zone and not ourselves.

However, the quirk of fate has struck as our final game is at Torquay tomorrow, Saturday, April 21 and to avoid any doubt, we need to go there and win.

There are still any one of six clubs who could fill that second relegation spot and each of those clubs are scrapping like dogs to avoid the drop. We are no longer in a position where we can rely on other clubs to help us, we simply have to go and do it ourselves.

The early signs against Tiverton were indeed very promising as we took the game to them and were soon ahead courtesy of an excellent move down the right which ended in centre Barrie Karea jinking his way through the Tiverton defence for the opening try on 20 minutes, his conversion put us 7-0 ahead.

Up until then it had been nip and tuck with both defences in no mood to give any ground. Territorially, we did have the better of things and continued to build up the pressure and from a Tivvy clearance, it was Karea again who was in the perfect position to field the kick and run 30 yards virtually unopposed to score out wide, his conversion drifted wide.

The visitors responded with determination and whilst we kept them out, it was at a cost as we conceded a penalty shortly before the interval and the lead was cut to nine points.

That was certainly a boost for Tivvy and they came out in the second half, all guns blazing. Another penalty brought the score to 12-6 and we were unable to get our hands on the ball.

That said, defensively we looked reasonably comfortable until the 65th minute when the pressure told and they did break through with a try under the posts which was converted for a 13-12 lead.

Had the score stayed that way we would almost certainly have been relegated. However, the final 10 minutes belonged to us and with time running out and attack down the right and a perfectly timed pass from centre Jason Luff found co-centre Devon Hosegood in a wide position to dash over in the corner for what turned out to be the winning score.

After such a bright start it was perhaps disappointing not to have gained the bonus point win which had looked on the cards but Tiverton too were battling for every point they could muster and fair play to them, they went back across the hill with one.

With Torquay failing to get anything from their defeat at Chard, we have moved above them but with a mere two points separating five teams as we go into the final round of games, anything could happen.

It is very much in our own hands as Tiverton have a tough home game against promotion chasing Devonport, Falmouth travel to champions St Ives and Paignton host mid-table Wadebridge.

Much will depend on the strength of both Wadebridge and St Ives as they both have eyes on the Cornwall Cup Final in two weeks and with neither side having anything to play for in the league, they may well not risk some of the first choice players for their final league game.

‘QUINS

The ‘Quins ensured that we completed the double over Tiverton with a 38-17 victory over there. Tries from Josh Davey, Chris Simpson, Tom Luxmore, Hayden Hill and Tom Ronchetti, plus five conversions and a penalty from Ronchetti were enough to see off the Tiverton challenge.

HORNETS

The Third Fifteen had a disappointing 15-45 defeat in a friendly against South Molton Seconds.

Congratulations to the Crediton Cougars Ladies team who finished in a very creditable third place in the Plymstock 10-a-Side Tournament. A wonderful achievement in their first season.

There is still plenty of rugby to be seen before the season finally comes to an end. The Devon Under 15s Seven-a-Side Festival takes place on Sunday, April 22; Friday, April 27 sees the Under 13s host Chobham from Surrey, 6pm kick off; on Saturday, April 28 the Third Fifteen host Butcombe, a touring side from Somerset and on Sunday, April 29, Crediton will be hosting the Devon Ladies v Berkshire Ladies County fixture, 2-30 kick off.

Paul Harris