Crediton 30 - Wadebridge 17

THE gap between second placed Crediton RFC and fifth in the league was a mere four points and a bonus point win was needed on January 4 to maintain the challenge and open a gap to fifth placed Wadebridge.

We got off to a good start with an Ollie Avery-Wright penalty in the first minute after the visitors were pinged for offside.

On eight minutes, Wadebridge were forced to concede a scrum penalty and the kick to the corner gave us a lineout five metres out.

Hooker Dan Yendell whose accuracy throwing in at the lineout would have made Luke Littler look very ordinary, allowed us to set up a driving maul which Wadebridge defended but we got the ball away and it was Josh Hall who came off his wing to break through and score. Unusually, OAW was just wide with the conversion.

From the restart, we cleared our lines with an Ed Brady box kick which Wadebridge knocked on and the attempted clearance was somewhat wild and ended going towards their own line.

Centre Kev Dennis chased the kick and his clever grub kick was then seized on by OAW who dived over to score.

We were dominating most aspects of play, the pack was presenting all sorts of problems for the visiting eight who went backwards at almost every scrum.

As an attacking force Wadebridge were simply not in the game as for the opening quarter they had barely got in our half let alone the "22".

On 21 minutes, another scrum was won on our 10 metre line and winger Josh Woodland appeared in the 10 channel and set up a ruck from which the ball was quickly whipped away and a sleight of hand pass from Ben Wonnacott, back from an injury lay off, found Matt Arnold who proceeded to put Hall away for his second of the game. Again, the conversion drifted wide of the mark.

Another attack looked certain to bring a try with an excellent break from Dennis took play into the visiting "22" and an offload found Ed Brady who was tackled.

Quick ball from the ensuing ruck and the try opportunity was still there but again Wadebridge got their tackles in and we were penalised for not releasing the ball to give them an easy exit.

On the half hour though, we did manage to get the bonus point try.

A Wadebridge lineout was taken by Tom Luxmoore who made yards before being tackled, the ball was quickly through the hands of the backs with a lovely flowing move and it was Hall who went over to secure the bonus point and claim his third of the day and 21st of the season. OAW added the extras and at 25-0 we were in total charge.

However, the visitors did begin to find their way back into the game, aided by some unnecessary penalties that we conceded.

A period of pressure shortly before the interval and indeed the first time they got into our "22", the touched down under the posts leaving us 25-7 ahead at the interval.

For the opening 15 minutes of the second half, we continued to dominate territory and possession and a number of try scoring opportunities went a-begging through various infringements around the tackle where we seemed to be caught holding the ball and preventing release. Certainly there were three good chances that should have been taken.

Wadebridge to their credit defended well and whilst their scrum and lineout struggled they began to get a foothold in the game.

On the hour, they had a lineout some eight metres out which they did win and the resulting driving maul saw them get a second try. The conversion missed but they were back in the game.

With the visitors caught offside, the kick to the corner produced another good lineout and it was hooker Dan Yendell who slipped off the back of the maul to cross for the try. Again, the conversion attempt drifted wide but at 30-12 we looked safe enough.

Wadebridge were certainly not done and a crossfield kick found our defence wanting as their winger collected the ball and shrugged off a couple of tackles to score with relative ease.

The conversion missed but they were within two scores and they worked hard in the final minutes, camped in out "22" but unable to find a way through the defence and when the final whistle came, we had prevented them from gaining at least one bonus point.

Territorially, we dominated more or less from start to finish and the first half performance produced excellent rugby.

We tilted off a bit in the second period but it is difficult to maintain that level of performance for 80 minutes.

The lineout was top notch, winning every one of our own and nicking a few of the oppositions.

Kevin Dennis looks to have settled into his role at outside centre and his direct running set up a couple of opportunities that perhaps should have produced tries.

The scrum was dominant throughout despite being a smaller pack we shoved the Wadebridge eight around almost at will. Fewer penalties when in their "22" would have led to a few more points but I have no doubt we would have settled for a bonus point win before the game.

On Saturday the Firsts travel to Okehampton determined to make amends for our home defeat to them back in October.

Okes have gone well this season and are currently second in the league. We were not at our best in that game and our recent form suggests we are capable of winning.