IVYBRIDGE 46-26 CREDITON 1ST XV

FOR the third week in a row, team selection was disrupted with late withdrawals and losing influential forwards Lance Palmer and Luke Mingo was far from ideal.

Back row forward Jake Clarke stepped up into the 12 shirt in place of the unavailable Josh Goldman and we knew we were going to have to be on the money to bag some points.

We started exactly how we’d prepared and dominated large amounts of possession and territory in the first half. However, we struggled to turn our possession into line-breaks due to the well-drilled Ivybridge defence.

Ill discipline began to creep in, and the ‘Bridgers had a purple patch, scoring four tries in 15 minutes - all from lineout drives five metres out. Just before half-time we managed to put together a good passage of phase play which resulted in Ben Harris going over in the corner. Ollie Avery-Wright added the conversion, and we turned around 27-7 down.

The half-time talk was positive with players and coaches encouraged by the fact we had the lion’s share of possession. Ivybridge’s tries were a result of our own poor discipline, resulting in kicks to corners close to our line for lineout drives. Our defence in open play had not been compromised.

We knew we had to throw the kitchen sink at them in the second half and we did exactly that. Two relatively quick scores from high energy attacks got us right back in it, the first from Ed Brady and the second from Josh Davey. Avery-Wright successfully converted on to make it 26-19 heading into the final quarter.

The home side though kept the scoreboard ticking over with a few penalty kicks at goal and they scored another catch and drive try from close quarters. We responded through Josh Woodland, whose try sealed a bonus point. Avery-Wright slotted the extras bringing the scoreline to 39-26.

Another spell of pressure from us and some quick thinking from hooker Dan Yendell saw him take a quick tap penalty catching Ivybridge off guard. Despite being gobbled up by some of the Ivybridge forwards, he dotted the ball down on the line. Unfortunately, the referee didn’t see the grounding. Getting within one score would have made for an exciting finish with five minutes to play.

That was not to be and with the final play of the game Ivybridge got a final try to make it 46-26 at full time, a score that looks wider than the game suggested. Our boys battled hard fought immensely, showing great character.

The struggle with unavailabilities continues, and further injuries to Tom Luxmoore, Kev Dennis and Ben Harris will not help the cause.

Coming up this Saturday, October 25, the 1st XV welcome Okehampton to Blagdon, the 3rd XV host Exeter Saracens and the Colts head to Brixham. We look forward to welcoming Graphic plc and CMC Eakers as our match day sponsors.

On Sunday, the Women’s XV take on Okehampton in the National Cup.

Rob Avery-Wright, Chris Hooper, John Gurzynski and Jay Harris