HAVING been relegated again at the end of the 1996-97 season and finding ourselves back where we started, we seemed to be in the midst of a roller coaster ride as once again, the following season we finished as runners-up in the Cornwall and Devon League, behind Truro.

That, of course, meant an immediate return to Western Counties West. We had a really good season in 1998-99, no sweating over relegation, a really good third place finish behind Truro and Ivybridge, followed by a fifth place finish in the season that took us through the millennium, perhaps we had found our home at last.

The 2000-01 season got off to a flying start for both the First and Second XV’s, the First began with a 32-9 home win against Devonport Services and, not to be outdone, the Quins travelled to Devonport and all but doubled that score, winning 63-5.

The following week gave a break from league rugby as we travelled to Okehampton for a Devon Intermediate Cup game, we lost 20-26 so now, as they say we could concentrate on the league!

ECLIPSED

A 34-14 league victory at Exmouth was eclipsed, yet again, by the Quins, who won 39-5 at home to give them their second Merit Table win in succession. In addition they had seen off Torquay in a friendly the previous week 32-3.

Three wins on the bounce for the Firsts, Hayle 29-17, Newton Abbot away 27-8 and Okehampton at home 40-14 and we were flying with a 100 per cent record.

Meanwhile, the Quins were keeping pace with victories over Barnstaple 7-0, Newton Abbot 46-10 and Okehampton 77-3, both sides having won all their league and Merit Table games, the garden really was looking rosy.

Paignton, St. Ives and Tiverton were all despatched with hefty defeats whilst the Quins did much the same to Paignton, Kingsbridge and Exeter Saracens.

Things had become really competitive, not simply for the Firsts and Seconds in their respective competitions but even more so with each other.

This actually led to more players attending training as failure to do so could jeopardise your place in the team!

The bubble was burst for the Firsts on December 2, with a 14-21 defeat at South Molton, probably a surprise result but to be fair, Molton have never been an easy side to beat on their own turf and they were also inspired by former Kirton players Marcus Keenor and Chris Lee, who both played exceptionally well against their former Club.

What really did rub salt into the wound came the following week with a 15-18 loss at Tiverton, a defeat that dropped us to third place in the league, although we did have games in-hand on both Withycombe and Exmouth, the two sides above us.

The weather disrupted games for a few weeks and games against Withycombe and Wellington were called off before victories over South Molton and then at St. Ives got us back to winning ways.

However, both Exmouth and Withycombe were also on form as they too were winning. Even a further four wins against Paignton, Newton Abbot, Hayle and Okehampton would still keep the top three positions the same.

FOOT AND MOUTH

It was at this time that rugby was brought to a temporary halt due to the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease.

Due to the fact that Crediton was considered to be an infected area, we suffered more than most with postponed games and an enforced lay off of a month only compounded the problem.

By now, both games against Wellington had been called off as had the away game at Withycombe.

In effect we were actually four games and six points behind league leaders Withycombe and four games and one point behind Exmouth in second place.

When the league restarted, we had six games left to play in a four-week period, two against Withycombe, one against Exmouth, one at Devonport and two against bottom placed Wellington.

RUSTINESS

It took a while for the rustiness to wear off, after a month of no activity, the players felt it was like starting the season over again and the first game was at home against Withies, who were themselves on a bit of a roll with 10 successive wins.

Well we got away with what most considered to be a lucky win 10-5, defences on top and really not a great deal of rugby.

The following week we travelled to their ground and again defences dominated, so much so that neither side could score and a 0-0 draw was registered, the first time that had happened for the Firsts since 1979!

Three points taken off Withies was hugely important as were the victories in the rescheduled games against Devonport and Exmouth.

The league finished and we still had not played the two Wellington games. However, we had finished at the top with two games not played and we were one point ahead of Withycombe who did play all their games.

Meanwhile, the Second XV were simply unstoppable in the Merit Table and finished with a 100 per cent winning record and remarkably conceded a mere 38 points during the entire Merit Table programme.

It really was a season to remember and, of course, it was to take us to an unprecedented level in the league structure with trips to Gloucestershire to look forward to.

DOWM MEMORY LANE

Todays Memory lane takes us on a fairly short journey towards Sandford and the home of Edward Trick. It is a familiar and well trodden path for Edward and one that he says he has travelled many times on foot, although it is surprising that he can remember too many of those walks after leaving the rugby club on a Saturday night!

Eddie’s journey with Crediton RFC has taken him from Colts in 1973-74 to Club Captain in 1979-80, Club Chairman 1993-94 and President 2017-2020.

In between all those years he has successfully coached juniors and seniors at the Club and is currently a hard working member of the Committee.

With that background, it is of course hardly surprising that Ed has numerous memories to recount and, as a player and a competitive one at that, it is perhaps surprising that he has picked a game that was lost as we return to September 2, 1979 and the visit of London Welsh.

Whilst the Centenary season had been and gone, the celebratory games continued and we welcomed the famous London Welsh to Crediton, a star studded side packed with internationals and a British Lion.

The team was captained by flanker Kevin Bowring who later went on to coach Wales from 1995-98, winger Clive Rees was a full International with 13 Caps between 1974 and 1983 and was a British Lion in 1974.

The fly-half was Wales B International Howard Evans as were forwards Chris Howcroft and Chris Neville.

The game itself was not as one sided as the score would suggest, 44-9 to the Welsh.

Certainly we took a while to settle and adjust to the pace of the game and by the interval we were 3-28 adrift.

The second half saw us having much more of the game than the opening 40 minutes and, indeed, both Steve Peckham in the centre and hooker, Mike John, came close to scoring.

Full-back Trevor Burridge, who had landed a first-half penalty, added a second and Gavin White-Thompson put over an excellent drop goal.

The Welsh finished the game in a flurry and scored a further 16 points later in the game.

Of course, it was not so much the result that mattered but the fact that we had put in a spirited performance against one of the top sides in the country who the previous day had beaten Exeter. It was simply another of those wonderful occasions of which memories are made.

The teams that day were:

Crediton: Trevor Burridge; Dave Rafferty, Steve Peckham, Eddie Trick (Capt), Ian Tearle; Gavin White-Thompson, John May; Viv Steer, Mike John, Nick Atkinson, Andy Cole, Peter Savage, Walter Andrews, Mike Leyman and Mike Leach. Replacements; Robbie Carter and Steve Kinch.

London Welsh: Greg Rees; Clive Rees, Mark Walbyoff, Gareth Lewis, David Rees; Howard Evans, Ian George; Simon Maylam, Byron Light, Bill Davey, Chris Howcroft, Emyr Blease, Chris Neville, Kevin Bowring (Capt) and Ted Lewis.

Eddie has so many good memories although he regards some of the best are the people who, over the years, he has met in the game, team mates, coaches, opponents, referees, volunteers, parents and supporters that have made his time at the Club so memorable.

Paul Harris

Photo one:

PICTURED: CREDITON RFC FIRST XV 2000-01 - CHAMPIONS WESTERN COUNTIES WEST, Standing; Jeff Bowers (Manager), Trevor Burridge (Coach), Bernie Blatchford (Coach), Andy Bluff and Alan Westcott, Ben Blackburn, Mark Gulley, Jay Harris, Martin Ash, Eddie Yeandle, Chris Crow, Graham Carter, Stuart Taylor, Ian Gillard and Rob May; Seated; Alex Scheepers, Barry Pamphillon, Richard Appleyard, Shane Bayley (Capt), Toby Newstead, Ross Andrews and Chris Kibbey.

Second picture:

CREDITON RFC Second XV 2000-01 - CHAMPIONS DEVON MERIT TABLE 1, Standing: Jeff Bowers, Ed Daw, John Leyman, Neville Phillips, Mike Grigg, Andy Bluff, Lee McKie, Simon Grainger, Alan Lovell, Matt Cridge and Scott Baker. Kneeling: Matt Chiverton, Leon Sheen, Dan Howard, Nick LeCharpentier, Steve Saunders (Capt), Morne Scheepers, Paul Nixon and Shaun Davey.