CREDITON RFC

St Austell 36 - Crediton 8

AT first glance this would look to be something of a one-sided affair but as is so often the case in defeat, you don’t always get what you deserve.

The scoreline was hugely flattering to the league leaders and whilst it would be an injustice to deny they deserved to win, the margin of victory in no way reflects the performance that we put in.

Tries often come after what may be termed at best "unusual" decisions. Unfortunately, we lost any sympathy from the referee in the opening 10 minutes when we were marched back 10 metres three times after penalties. It seemed we were not allowed to ask a question of the match official whilst our hosts chatted to him for most of the afternoon!

Three early tries put them 17-0 ahead after 20 minutes and it was then that we came to life.

Pressure on their line brought a try from Luke Mingo followed soon after by a penalty from Ollie Avery-Wright and we ended the half in the ascendancy.

A handling move looked promising but a stray pass intended for Josh Woodland went into touch when he had a clear field ahead.

The second half began well for us, we attacked and kept the home side under pressure but, as happened last week at home against Sidmouth, a pass failed to reach its destination and was kicked through with their centre winning the kick chase.

A couple of strange decisions that went against us and the ensuing penalty from one of them ended with a try out wide which was converted and in the final minute they scored their final try, again out wide and again converted to complete the scoring.

On the whole though there were many positives from the game, Will Castleton in his second game for the Club filled in at scrum half extremely well in the absence of Ed Brady. Luke Mingo again caused problems with his driving runs. It was certainly no disgrace to lose to St. Austell, just a shame we did not get the rub of the green.

Crediton Thirds 22 - Topsham Seconds 26

WITH Tiverton unable to raise a Third XV, a friendly against a combined Topsham First and Second XV was arranged against a combination of our Seconds and Thirds.

It was an evenly contested game and we led for long periods. That lead lasted until the final play of the game when we were ahead by a point and the visitors scored in the final minute to snatch victory.

Nonetheless, it was a great performance from the Thirds who, in fairness were helped by a few Second XV players.

Owen Cooper, Macauley Jones and Tyler Farley scored tries with Cooper adding two conversions and a penalty.

Crediton Colts 27 - Exeter Athletic Colts 12

IN front of a decent crowd and on the main pitch, the Colts put on another solid display to run out winners against Exeter Athletic. Our visitors arrived a couple players short and, without hesitation, we had volunteers who were willing to play for them. A great attitude which we are very proud of.

We couldn’t have got off to a better start when, after some good approach work from the pack, the ball was spread wide and Tariq Sayers crossed for the opening try. The conversion went wide but with barely two minutes on the clock we were 5-0 ahead.

This early score didn’t particularly unsettle our visitors and, for the remainder of the opening quarter, both sides showed some quality in not the easiest of conditions. It was the city side that scored next after winning the chase to dot down after a kick through, making it 5-5.

Generally, our defence was looking solid across the park and although we were having some struggles at scrum time, the forwards were working hard in the loose and linking well with the backs who looked dangerous in attack.

On 10 minutes before the break, some smart play caused confusion in the visitors defence and, with defenders committing to our decoy runners, Freddie Blackburn was put through a hole to score under the posts. Haydn Gosling slotted the conversion. The score stayed at 12-5 at half-time.

We started the second half strongly and on 45 minutes hooker Ben Butland took the ball at pace and broke through for a try. Unable to add the extras, we were leading 17-5.

Following this score, we began to assert some dominance on the game. We were playing some intelligent rugby in the opposition territory and making it difficult for them to exit.

We had a couple of chances on their line but were unable to convert the pressure into any points thanks to some stout defending.

The defence was broken on 68 minutes though when Joe Wreford picked from the base of a ruck 15 metres out and raced over for a five pointer.

From the kick-off we were immediately back on the offensive. We were held up over the line and from the resulting goal line drop out Sayers gathered the ball 25 metres out and, with only one thing on his mind, charged for the line.

Bouncing off a couple defenders he scored his second of the day and we were 27-5 ahead with time almost up.

It was Exeter Athletic who had the final say though as they finished with a converted try to make it 27-12 at full-time.

This was another pleasing performance from the Colts. Equally pleasing was the willingness to play for the opposition. Great stuff lads!

This Saturday sees the start of the second half of the league competition when the First XV entertain Thornbury who defeated us on their patch in the opening game of the season 22-20. It was close then and no doubt will be another close one on Saturday.

The Quins entertain Exmouth Seconds on Saturday, whilst the Thirds travel to Exmouth to play their Third XV.

The Colts were due to travel to Okehampton but Okes are unable to raise a team and so at the time of writing, they were looking for a fixture.

Finally, the Directors and Committee of Crediton RFC would like to wish all our players, volunteers, supporters and sponsors a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Paul Harris