Sidmouth Seconds 16 - Crediton Quins 27

CREDITON RFC Quins gained ample revenge for the Cup defeat at Sidmouth a few weeks ago and deprived the hosts of their 100 per cent record in an epic battle between the top two sides in the league.

The game started at an intensity that did not waiver until the final whistle with both sides throwing everything into a full-blooded affair.

For the most part the packs cancelled each other out but Sidmouth relied on some excellent positional kicking from fly half Dan Retter.

Whilst the game was high on intent, scoring opportunities were few and far between with the game battled out broadly in the middle third.

The Quins struggled to break through a resilient home defence.

That defensive pressure forced the Quins into a mistake and a loose pass was pounced on by fullback Ollie Hansford-Harvey who sprinted clear to bring the opening score. Retter added the extras for a 7-0 lead.

The Quins were momentarily on the back foot and Sidmouth came pouring forward in an attempt to extend their lead. However, the defence held firm we managed to reset and soon brought some pressure of our own which paid dividends with a Joe Dodge try out wide bringing the score back to 7-5.

The half ended with Sidmouth in the ascendancy and their backline was looking increasingly dangerous in the wider channels and we finally began conceding penalties giving Retter the chance to add an extra three points to send the home side into half time with a 10-5 lead.

The second half continued in similar fashion to the first although the Quins made more use of their kicking game.

A Tom Ronchetti penalty narrowed the gap to three points but no sooner had we done so that almost straight from the kick-off Retter nonchalantly slotted a 40m drop goal from nowhere to re-establish the five point cushion for the hosts.

As the game wore on the Quins brought on fresh legs and we started to assert a dominant edge in the tight phases which was providing additional room for the backline to test the home defence.

It soon paid dividends when Macauley Jones went over for our second try, the Ronchetti conversion gave us the lead for the first time.

Once again though, the hosts came straight back and an infringement on the 10m line gave Retter the chance to put them back in front by a point but for Sidmouth, that is as good as it got.

We continued to press and sensed the opportunity of a win. With 10 minutes to go Sidmouth’s resolve was finally broken as the Quins relentless attacking finally saw Sam Westcott power over the line and into a four point lead.

With only a few minutes left on the clock Sidmouth did not sit back and accept defeat but pushed on to try and find a way to win the game. Unfortunately, their ambition was not met with success and instead it was Crediton who managed to capitalise and Westcott scored his second of the game, not only securing a try bonus point but also depriving Sidmouth of a losing one.

The result means that the Quins now benefit from a six point lead at the top of the table, but Sidmouth can close that to a point if they can make the most of their game in hand next week against New Cross.

This was an excellent performance yet again from the Quins and a well merited win.

Sidmouth had been previously undefeated and for us to take that record on their own patch is pretty impressive. Sam Westcott has also created a remarkable record of scoring 15 tries in the last four games, incredible stats.

The Quins travel to Plymstock for the semi-final of the Second XV Shield.The winners will be at home in the final against Ivybridge Seconds on February 8.

Paul Harris