CREDITON 28 - THORNBURY 24

NOT for the first time this season we were missing several players and, in all honesty, no-one was giving us much of a chance against league leaders Thornbury.

Rugby though is a wonderful game that has a habit of kicking adversity into touch as we produced a performance full of guts, determination and quality that secured a bonus point win with a last gasp try.

We opened the scoring in the first five minutes when, from a penalty, fly-half Jason Luff found touch deep in the Thornbury ‘22’.

The lineout worked perfectly as did the driving maul which saw Mark Nott touch down. Josh Davey added the conversion to put us 7-0 up.

The visitors were looking sharp outside and testing our defence, which for the most part looked fairly solid.

However, on 20 minutes Thornbury struck and in relatively spectacular fashion. We had their scrum under pressure in their ‘22’ but they did manage to get the ball away to full-back Alfie Richardson who went the length of the pitch to score at the posts.

The try was converted and quickly followed by a penalty to put them 7-10 ahead.

Things looked ominous for the us when Thornbury extended their lead with another seven-pointer and at 7-17 it seemed that damage limitation would be the order of the day.

The players though had other ideas and with half-time rapidly approaching our forwards went about their business battering the Thornbury line.

The scrum option was taken on two consecutive penalties, the second of which resulted in Will Goodman driving over for his first senior try for the Club. Josh Davey converted to bring us within three points at the break.

The second half was a real battle, with each side sharing possession but unable to make a breakthrough. Both exerted pressure on the others try-line but equally, both defences were excellent and the stalemate continued until the final seven minutes.

Once again we camped on the Thornbury line and after several phases, Wayne Reed was driven over to put us ahead with his 99th try for the Club. Davey added the extras and at 21-17 it seemed we were home and dry.

Thornbury weren’t having that though and before the home cheering had died down, they hit back with another converted try leaving us three points adrift with the game now in the dying seconds.

From the restart we got into a good position as the visitors messed up the restart. The resulting pressure forced Thorn’s to infringe and we were rewarded with a very kickable penalty pretty much in front of the sticks that would give us a share of the spoils.

A few eyebrows were raised among the crowd when we opted for a scrum five metres out. The team knew it was the last play and felt the chance of a bonus point victory compared to an additional point for a draw was a risk worth taking.

After a couple of attempts by the forwards to get the winning score, the ball was given to the backs to have a go and Luff floated a perfect pass out wide to Josh Woodland who stepped a couple of defenders to cross the line. Davey converted once more and as the final whistle blew, we were victorious 28-24.

Thornbury were a good side and while we just about had the upper-hand in the forward encounters, they looked a bit sharper in the backs. All-in-all, after the disappointment of last week this was a performance to be proud of.

The victory moved us up a couple of places whilst at the same time costing Thornbury top spot which has now been taken by Devonport…today’s opponents!

CREDITON 3RDS 35 - HONITON 2NDS 15

Another impressive performance from the Third Fifteen who came from 15 points down at half-time to secure what in the end was a comfortable victory.

Honiton came looking for a win that would see them leapfrog the Thirds in the Merit Table although they knew that would not be an easy task.

Honiton made full use of the slope advantage in the first half with their bulky pack making inroads but our defence held firm for the opening quarter. The visitors bagged their opening try from a maul, the conversion failed.

The lead should have been doubled when Honiton again crossed the line, only to drop the ball. This sparked the Honiton pack into action and following several good carries, they rumbled over for a try in the corner.

On the stroke of half-time, the visitors bagged their third try for a 15-0 interval lead.

The Thirds needed three scores to get themselves back into the game and for the opening minutes of the second half, the dogged defending of the visiting side kept us at bay.

However, the pressure was beginning to tell and it was not long before prop Kevin Ellis forced his way over, fly-half Hayden Hill converted.

Within minutes No 8 Marshall Edwards, with a powerful run, scorched over and Hill’s conversion reduced the deficit to a single point. Winger Neil Collins in his second game after a few years out, was next on the scoresheet and a further two tries from Edwards completed the scoring.

Hill converted all three after an impressive afternoon with the boot.

BRIXHAM COLTS 12 - CREDITON COLTS 25

The Colts recorded another impressive away victory at Brixham when eventually they did kick off. Having arrived for a 3pm start, the hosts realised they had no pitch or changing rooms available and so we had to wait for another game to finish.

Tries from Callum Yeandle (2), Nathan Karea and Joe Warren plus a conversion and penalty from Ryan Styles ensured a relatively comfortable win.

Today, the First Fifteen host Devonport who currently top the league and the Seconds also host Devonport Seconds who also top the Devon Merit Table.

The Thirds travel to South Molton Seconds and the Colts visit Topsham.

Paul Harris