TIVERTON 10 - CREDITON 15

THIS match played on December 1 was indeed a sweet victory, our first at Tiverton since 2005 and one that had huge significance as it ended the run of two successive defeats and kept us in third place in the league as we approach the half-way stage of the season.

It was always going to be a keenly contested game and the result was always in the balance until the final whistle.

That said, by half-time we should have been well clear as a couple of clear cut opportunities were squandered although one of them we did actually feel had been scored but the referee decided it was knocked on in the act of scoring.

It was certainly Crediton that set the early pace of the game as we attacked up the slope and it was no surprise that we took the lead on 11 minutes with a classic Mark Nott try as he was driven over the line.

Ollie Avery-Wright took the conversion from wide out but the effort drifted wide. In sticky conditions, the game got bogged down into a midfield battle with both defences standing firm.

Tivvy were unable to make much advantage of the slope although got close to the line on a couple of occasions but were unable to find a way through.

A superb break from half-way by scrum-half Ed Brady looked to have set up a great opportunity but the home defence managed to get across to haul down winger Devon Hosegood just short of the line.

Another catch and drive looked to have produced the second try but the ball was adjudged to have gone forward in the act of scoring.

The final play of the half saw us again camped on the Tiverton line but they won their five-metre scrum and were glad to put the ball out of play to end the half.

The hosts were more in the game in the early stages of the second period and earned a couple of penalties, one of which saw Nott yellow carded for collapsing a maul.

With a man advantage and with their lineout working pretty well, they opted for a catch and drive and with a numerical advantage managed to get over the line to level, the conversion putting them ahead.

Crediton rallied and with the home side caught offside, Avery-Wright landed a penalty off the post to put us ahead once again albeit by a single point.

Once again, the battle took place between the two ‘22’s although we gradually built up the pressure.

A superb touchline break by Dan Yendell, now back in his more accustomed role at hooker, took play to the home ‘22’ and caused a bit of panic in the home defence and whilst they snuffed out the immediate danger we piled on the pressure and eventually after several phases the ball went out to the right to full-back Jason Luff whose quick thinking and fleet of foot changed direction and caught the home defence flat footed as he jinked his way over in a way that would have had Bruno Tonioli flapping his arms in delight.

Avery-Wright converted for a 15-7 lead.

Tiverton responded with a penalty five minutes from time but from then on in we managed to run the clock down for a hard earned victory.

CREDITON QUINS 14 - TIVERTON SECONDS 5

Another tight game with two evenly matched teams saw the ‘Quins run out winners 14-5 for a valuable four points in the Merit Table.

In a closely contested game Crediton slogged it out up the hill in the first half and held out several Tiverton assaults on the home line.

Where Crediton did have a distinct advantage was their domination of the scrum which was to prove crucial in the second half.

Playing down the hill Crediton soon scored the first points of the game with a push-over try from No 8 Gav Best and converted by Tom Ronchetti.

However, despite the sticky conditions, Tiverton shook off the mud to run in a well-worked try which they failed to convert.

With only a conversion separating the teams, Crediton’s pack was to prove the decisive force when they drove the Tiverton pack backwards 22 meters to score a second push-over try, again Best touching down and Ronchetti adding the extras.

Tivvy battled hard to reduce the arrears but were unable to break down the solid home defence.

TIVERTON THIRDS 19 - CREDITON THIRDS 26

The Third Fifteen completed the whitewash over Tiverton with another hard-fought victory in another game that was in the balance until the final whistle.

Crediton started strongly, scoring a well-worked try, moving from one side of the pitch to the other to send winger Ed Marshall in the corner.

However, Tiverton responded when their No 8 crashed over under the posts and the conversion put them ahead.

Undaunted, Crediton replied twice with Oven Twigg scoring in the corner after full-back Brad Baker created the overlap.

This was followed by No 12 John Gurzynski getting used to carrying two digits on his back and crashing over after sustained pressure following a stolen scrum on the Tiverton line.

Hayden Hill then intercepted 10 metres from his own line and ran the length to score. He also added the conversion for a third time to make it 7-26 at half-time.

Tiverton scored almost immediately after half-time with the No 8 again crashing over.

How Crediton didn’t score in the second half is a mystery with two tries disallowed and numerous handling errors leading to coach Andy Dafters saying “Our passing was terrible and this will be the focus at training this week!”

Crediton had a nervous end after the Tiverton No 8 again crashed over but the boys held on for a final score of 19-26.

CREDITON COLTS 12 - EXETER SARACENS COLTS 7

In a hugely competitive and entertaining game, neither side made full use of the advantage of the slope. Sarries played down hill in the first period and kept Crediton pinned in their own half for the first 20 minutes.

They had opened the scoring 10 minutes into the game with a try out wide which was added to with a conversion almost from the touchline.

Any advances up the pitch by Crediton were halted by errors and some poor discipline resulting in penalties against them.

Crediton gradually worked their way back into the game with a few driving mauls and some direct running through the middle from Lewis Warren.

Crediton won a line-out from a penalty about 10 metres out on the left and managed to drive a maul over the line with Tobias Whittaker scoring and Owen Cooper converting from close to the touchline to level the scores.

Sarries continued to put the pressure on at the other end but Crediton managed to hold out until half-time.

The second half started fairly evenly with some open play between the two 22-metre lines.

As the half wore on, Sarries began to dominate territory and more time was spent in the Crediton half and for almost the last 20 minutes, mainly in Crediton’s ‘22’.

The Crediton defence was outstanding with Ethan Sibley showing up well with a very high tackle count leading the way. With their territorial advantage, Sarries should really have scored but were unable to break through.

After withstanding Sarries throwing everything at them, Crediton managed to win the ball and kick down field which resulted in a scrum to Crediton on the Sarries ‘22’ and about 15 metres in.

Josh Pilkington took the ball at fly-half and broke through the middle and a perfectly timed pass to Sam Wilson who scored wide on the left with what turned out to be the last play of the game.

Although Sarries were unfortunate to lose this game, credit has to be given to the home side for their organised and determined defence close to their own line for such a long period of time.

Other than a trial game a few years ago, this was our first league victory at Tiverton since 2005 against a Tivvy side that had shown a recent upturn in form.

The victory was well-deserved and indeed could have been by a wider margin and helped us maintain our third place in the league.

We are almost at the half-way stage of the season and have already won nine games, only one fewer than our total of wins for the entire season last year.

Where, perhaps, we are losing out is in the bonus points column where we have only gained four which compares unfavourably with the sides around us and in fact the same number as bottom placed Bideford.

Of course, the first priority is the win but against Tiverton we had enough opportunities to have scored the additional two tries to have secured an elusive bonus point.

That said, at least a top four place at Christmas is almost guaranteed and back in September I am sure we would have taken that.

It was nice to gain a 3-0 whitewash over Tivvy but what was almost as important was the fact that they too put out three sides on a Saturday.

The more Clubs that can do that will mean better fixtures at the lower levels and that can only be good for the game.

Games for Saturday, December 8: First Fifteen v Truro, home; Second and Third Fifteen’s away at Exmouth.

Paul Harris