CREDITON RFC 1ST XV 45-35 WINSCOMBE

THE first game back in the new year is always a tricky one due to limited preparation, but the lads picked up exactly where they left off in December.

Winscombe enjoyed early success, coming out of the blocks at pace. Our defence was relatively solid, but Winscombe’s attack was clinical and aggressive.

However, we were encouraged by the fact that their main success came from our own mistakes and we never felt like we were being outplayed.

Both sides and a big crowd observed a minute’s silence in honour of Paul Harris before kick-off, and he would certainly have been proud of performances put in by teams throughout the club across the weekend.

Winscombe dominated possession and territory in the early stages and a couple of missed tackles led to them going in under the posts for a converted score within five minutes.

We began to get into the game but errors a critical moments allowed the visitors easy exits.

Both sides traded blows and looked dangerous but on 20 minutes Winscombe extended their advantage to 0-14 with a converted scored following an attacking lineout.

From a scoreboard perspective, things weren’t looking great but the belief in the team did not waver.

Enjoying some territory and possession of our own forced the visitors into mistakes and a couple of penalties gave us a platform to work from.

A good lineout catch and drive allowed the forwards to set up a number of pick and drives which resulted in Ben Harris burrowing over. Ollie Avery-Wright added the extras and it was 7-14 as we headed into the half-time break.

The half-time message was clear, improve game management and play as much rugby as possible in the right areas of the field, with or without the ball.

The lads executed this perfectly. Ollie Avery-Wright and Rhys Davies-Horne began to pull the strings, consistently putting us in the areas we needed to be and that’s where we stayed.

We started the second period strongly and a well-worked move from a line-out saw Dan Yendell feed Josh Goldman, who in turn offloaded to Ed Brady who dived over. Avery-Wright slotted the conversion and we were all square at 14-14.

Continuing to assert some dominance in the game, Ben Wonacott was next to score, scything through the defence to touch down. Avery-Wright converted for a 21-14 lead.

Within minutes, Colts winger Charlie Cookson thwarted a Winscombe attack by intercepting in our ’22 and running the length of the pitch for a five-pointer.

We were well in the ascendency and from a five-metre scrum, the ball was worked wide to winger Josh Woodland, who dived in for the first of what would become a hat-trick of tries.

Winscombe were not out of it though and responded with a converted try, but at 31-21 with a quarter of the game to go, we appeared to be well in control.

With confidence growing, the scoreboard was ticking over and, having regathered a clever cross field kick from Avery-Wright, Woodland beat the defence and took off for his second try with Avery-Wright adding the conversion.

Seeking a try bonus point, Winscombe went through a number of phases within five metres of our line but the defence held firm and a couple of kicks following a turnover saw us back on the attack 10 metres out from their line.

A sharp move down the blind saw Woodland complete his hat-trick. Another successful conversion made it 45-21.

Winscombe managed two late consolation scores to narrow the margin, but the result was never in doubt. Seven tries were scored in a 45-35 victory and a special mention goes to Josh Woodland, who didn’t take long to pick up his first hat-trick of the year.

Our rugby on both sides of the ball was outstanding and this was an extremely encouraging performance to kick off the year.

This coming Saturday the 1st XV head to North Petherton, looking to secure our seventh win in a row. The 2nd XV host Topsham, the 3rd XV welcome Torrington and the Colts take a trip to Torquay.

Rob Avery-Wright and Jay Harris