CREDITON 31 - BUDE 14
THIS was indeed a crunch match which would bring the victors the rich reward of almost certainly avoiding relegation.
The fact that this was very much a basement battle, the quality of rugby displayed by both sides would make anyone wonder quite how these two sides were in the bottom three.
The game had everything, fast flowing rugby in attack and immense effort and discipline in defence with no quarter asked or given.
This time around we competed extremely well in the scrum and almost completely shut the full-back out of the game.
Certainly their driving maul caused us problems but again, we restricted their opportunities to set them up.
The first score came on eight minutes when Bude were caught with hands in a ruck and fly-half Mark Lee popped over a simple penalty.
It had been all home pressure up until then and that continued until the 20th minute when against the run of play and on their first foray into our “22”, Bude grabbed a try from a driving maul touched down by their influential prop Adam Black. Full-back Dan Pearce converted.
With their tails up, the visitors had a period of pressure but conceded possession outside our “22” and full-back Gareth Mason broke upfield, before putting Mark Lee on a powerful touchline run only to be pulled down a couple of metres from the Bude try-line.
However, right-wing Ed Brady was up in support to finish off the move to put us ahead. Five minutes later we pressed on their line and after several phases, lock Mark Nott burrowed over.
A third try soon followed and we were in full flow. A bude lineout on our 10-metre line was stolen and No 8 Ben Wonnacott made 20 metres before offloading to centre Jason Luff and he in turn put Mason away and his perfectly timed pass then put Luff away for try number three. Lee converted and then landed a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Within minutes of the restart, the bonus point was secured when with Bude struggling to clear their lines, a kick was charged down and from the ensuing ruck, scrum-half Josh Lee spotted space down the short side and went over.
The pattern of the game then changed dramatically and the visitors, realising they needed something from the game. piled on the pressure and aware that their best chance of a score would come from the driving maul, began to use it to good effect.
The inevitable try did come when lock Will Kingdon was driven over and Pearce converted and at 28-14 with the visitors in the ascendancy, it was very much game on.
Back came Bude again and another driving maul was collapsed illegally for which Nott was yellow carded.
Phase after phase was defended and some crunching tackles went in and still the visitors were unable to cross the line.
The pressure was relieved when Bude were penalised for holding on to the ball in the tackle. With time running out, the visitors conceded a penalty 30 metres out and Luff converted to put the result beyond doubt.
That we came out on top was hugely significant as we have now taken 14 points from the last three games, which has pushed us to our highest position in the league this season.
Those three games have all been against Cornish opposition and with the trip to St Ives on Saturday who would bet against us making it four Cornish scalps in succession.
We have certainly done well against Cornish sides, of the nine games to-date against teams from across the Tamar, we have won six and lost three so hopefully we will make it seven wins on Saturday.
OKEHAMPTON SECONDS 16 - CREDITON QUINS 15
The ‘Quins made the short journey to league leaders Okehampton for a Devon Merit Table One fixture anticipating a tough game especially in view of the fact that we had been on the wrong end of a 50-0 drubbing at home earlier in the season.
Okehampton have only lost one game all season. The early signs were ominous for Crediton and we were on the defensive immediately from kick off and, with only four minutes played, went three points down after conceding a simple penalty for offside.
Five minutes later Okey doubled their lead when we conceded another simple penalty, this time for not releasing on the ground.
Whilst this put Okehampton clearly in the ascendancy the Crediton forwards were beginning to get the better of their counterparts and were making inroads into the Okehampton half with a series of strong carries and driving mauls.
After 12 minutes, and somewhat against the run of play, the home side increased their lead when a loose ball was hacked on by one of their defenders deep into our half and although the Crediton defenders had it covered the ball took a vicious bounce into the path of the chasing Okehampton player who kicked on again and won the footrace to get the touchdown for a converted try.
Crediton responded with vigour with their forwards giving their backs plenty of good ball to play off and after 27 minutes they were rewarded with a try when Andy Hawkes forced his way over the line for a try with Tom Ronchetti adding the extras.
Both defences were now being tested repeatedly, but with neither side giving any quarter the first half closed with Okehampton 13-7 ahead.
The second half started as the first had finished with both sides probing for an opening, but still both defences held firm.
The Crediton forwards continued to dominate their opposition and eventually it was their pressure which broke the stalemate in the 70th minute.
Okehampton had a scrum in their own 22-metres area but a strong drive from the Crediton pack pushed them off their own ball and flanker Josh Pearce picked up the loose ball to dive over in the corner for an unconverted try.
This was now a one-point game and with the clock ticking down Crediton maintained the pressure on Okehampton, camping in their half of the field.
On the 79th minute Okehampton were penalised for handling on the floor and Tom Ronchetti converted the kick which put Crediton into a two-point lead with less than a minute left on the clock.
Immediately from the re-start Okehampton mounted what was to be the last play of the game when they were awarded a contentious penalty.
Whilst the Crediton players thought they had won a free kick for blatant crossing by the Okehampton players, the referee said that a Crediton player was offside and with the last kick of the game Okehampton converted the penalty and the game ended 15-16 in their favour.
Whilst the Crediton players were bitterly disappointed to have lost in the last seconds of the game, they can be very proud of their performance against an Okehampton side that has been dominating opponents this season and who have a great chance to finish the season as Merit Table champions.
Paul Harris