WITH the 2013-14 season drawn to a close, Crediton RFC received one of the most prestigious accolades of the season when it was presented with the "Whistler Award" from the Devon Rugby Referees' Society at their AGM last week. The award is given to the club which the referees feel has been the most welcoming and friendly during the season. This is a huge tribute to the hard working committee members and players who ensure that match officials are looked after each week. In addition, our discipline record has been exemplary all season. The club can look back on last season with considerable pride having enjoyed success at all levels. Indeed we seem to have bucked the trend that has beset many clubs in Devon and beyond by fielding four senior sides each week and on one occasion five senior sides represented the club on a Saturday. This is a remarkable achievement when we consider that clubs such as Sidmouth, Brixham, Tiverton and many others have struggled to field second and third fifteen's during the past season. The First Fifteen had a much better season than the previous year and finished fourth in the league with 13 wins and 10 defeats from their 24 league games, scoring 732 points and conceding 462. The season started well with a good win at home against Withycombe (37-13) but was immediately followed by a disappointing home defeat against Falmouth (8-12). There then followed a run of five successive wins, Hayle away (20-11), Veor at home (30-5), Newquay away (81-0), OPM at home (29-5) and Pirates Amateurs away (21-20). At this stage we were well in contention, in third place behind Exeter University and Tiverton. Next up was the home game against the University who had swept all before them apart from a hefty defeat at Tiverton against whom they had fielded a particularly weak team. For the game against us however, the University side was as strong as they could get and in fairness they produced some sparkling rugby running out 53-18 winners. We were certainly not disgraced and indeed had a purple patch early in the second half when we did run in three tries. The following week brought a trip to Saltash and fixtures between the two sides have always been high scoring affairs. This one was no exception as it ended in a 38-all draw. The home side secured the draw with a last kick of the game penalty. We should really have won that game having been 13 points clear at one stage. Honiton, at home, brought us back to winning ways and in a closely fought game we won 25-17. By this time we were clearly in third place but gradually dropping behind the top two. A week away from the league took us to Cullompton in the Devon Intermediate Cup. This is a competition in which we have been runners-up in three of the previous four seasons. Sadly, on this occasion we were not to get beyond the first round suffering defeat by 32-8. That result seemed to sap confidence for a while and three successive defeats at Exeter Saracens (27-28), Tiverton at home (17-28) and Falmouth away (5-8) ended any realistic chance of promotion. The new year began with wins at home against Hayle (37-16) and away at Veor (25-10) but this was followed by a 34-15 loss at OPM in a howling gale in Plymouth. That was probably our poorest performance of the season and by now we were being chased down for third place by Withycombe who had become the form side. The visit of Newquay was looked forward to with relish, having already scored 12 tries against them in the earlier game. We were not disappointed and another 10 tries were scored in a 68-16 win. The visit of Saltash was again expected to be a high scoring encounter which of course it was. We were certainly coasting at the interval with a 22-0 lead and looking like running up 50 points. In the end we were glad to hear the final whistle as the Ashes came back before we eventually won 27-26. So two games against Saltash produced 129 points and the two sides were separated by a single point! Two more defeats followed, at Honiton we threw away a 12 point interval lead losing 12-25 and then the return game against the University almost provided the shock of the season. We were within two minutes of victory, leading 34-29 into the final minute. The students ran a penalty and scored with the conversion giving them victory with the last kick of the game. Exeter Saracens were our next visitors and memories of the single point defeat earlier in the season were fresh in the mind. With only third place to fight for, we did put in a strong performance in a 74-5 victory. Defeats at Tiverton (15-23) and Withycombe (20-23) sealed our fourth place finish and the season was rounded off with a 55-10 home win against Pirates Amateurs. Whilst a fourth place finish can be described as satisfactory, especially compared to the previous season, a lack of consistency in performance undoubtedly cost us dearly. Tiverton lost only two games all season but in all honesty they were no better than us. Whilst that may sound somewhat rash, in reality the difference between them and ourselves was consistency, they were able to grind out results week in week out. Out of 26 games in total, Josh Lee, Bobby Mogford, Lance Palmer, Mark Nott and Ben Wonnacott played in 25, Dan Manns and Mike Pearce 24, Tom Ronchetti 22, Stuart Pickard 19, Jon Down and Chris Hooper 18, Tom Foan, Mark Lee, Declan McDonnell and Sam Rowe 15. The try scoring chart was headed by Mark Nott for the third successive year with 29 and taking his tally to a remarkable 87 tries in 101 First Fifteen games. Josh Lee touched down nine times and Mark Lee seven to add to his 49 conversions, 16 penalties and a drop goal for a tally of 184 points for the season. Ben Wonnacott won the Player of the Year award, his powerful running and ball carrying combined with his defensive qualities made him a deserving winner. He was also recognised by the county selectors as, along with Josh Lee, he was selected for the County Under 20's. The senior county side also took note of some Crediton performances as Mark Lee, Lance Palmer, Josh Lee and Tom Foan all gained senior county honours. Some new faces joined the club and made an impact, notably lock Declan McDonnell and centre Chris Simpson who progressed through the Seconds and Thirds and forced his way into the first team scoring four tries in nine games. Scrum-half Dan Lewis, new to the area, broke into the First Fifteen but injury ended his season prematurely. Some former Colts too made the breakthrough, Jake Clarke looked to have cemented a place but his season finished early too as he went travelling. Ed Marshall, a strong back row forward also made the First Fifteen although work commitments restricted his appearances. Devon Hosegood forced his way into the Firsts at the latter end of the season after some impressive Second Fifteen performances. The prospect for next season looks very promising with all of the current squad available plus of course a number of very talented colts coming through, competition for places will be fierce. A review on the Second Fifteen's will be included in the next issue. PH