SIDMOUTH 17 - CREDITON 17

THE Chiefs had to draw on all their reserves last Saturday (March 10) to salvage a draw in this derby match after a promising start.

Over-confidence seemed to set in after scoring two well-constructed tries. The result was a litany of errors, in terms of both skill and judgement.

Crediton capitalised, grew in strength and confidence, and were somewhat unfortunate not to go away with more than two points.

In a match transferred to a Sidford pitch, in perfect condition despite the heavy overnight rain, Sidmouth went straight on the attack from the kick off and took the lead after just three minutes.

Matt Farrington broke from a scrum 10 metres from the Crediton line to link with Johnny Hamill. The scrum-half’s short dart drew in the midfield defenders and, when the ball was quickly recycled, a long pass found Ben Pratt in space to race in at the left corner. The try was unconverted.

Despite playing into the breeze, the Chiefs continued to enjoy territorial advantage, although mistakes were beginning to creep into their game.

A strong run by Tom Seward, followed by quick recycling, had the defence back-peddling. Quick handling sent Matt Farrington sprinting in at the corner for a second unconverted try.

To their credit, Crediton heads did not drop and, as the Sidmouth error count rose, they began to exert pressure and a good handling move had the defence at full stretch.

When the Sidmouth backs dropped the ball trying to run out of their own half, fly-half Rob Milton scooped it up and burst into the 22 before sending his inside centre Jason Luff in under the posts. Te ball was then kicked over for the conversion.

In first half injury time, the Chiefs tried to run the ball out of their own 22 and again the ball was lost in contact. A penalty was conceded trying to retrieve the situation and Down was successful with the kick to tie the scores at the break.

Now full of confidence, the visitors tore into the Chiefs from the restart pinning them into their own half.

Without Josh Bess, the Chiefs were too dependent on Ollie Pyne in the lineouts, making it easy for Crediton to counter and spoil. Also, the Sidmouth scrum began to come under pressure.

Crediton camped inside the Sidmouth 22 until hooker Dan Yendall forced his way over from close range. The conversion form Down gave them a deserved seven-point lead.

The Chiefs got the wake up call and sharpened their game but could make little impression against determined opponents, who could smell a badly-needed victory.

With five minutes to go, they produced a move, which cut open the defence. Ethan Mead came from the blindside wing at a scrum on halfway.

In a set move, he took an inside pass through the fly-half/inside centre gap. A combination of agility and pace took him clear to touch down in the left corner. Having missed twice from a similar position, Dan Retter’s conversion bisected the uprights to level the scores.

In injury time, a Dan Retter penalty attempt from just inside his own half rebounded from the crossbar.

Disappointing for the Chiefs but Crediton deserved to go away with something for their spirited performance.

CREDITON SECONDS 3 - BARNSTAPLE SECONDS 29

A penalty from Hayden Hill was the only score we could muster despite a spirited performance against a much improved Barnstaple Second Fifteen who are on a run of 10 successive wins taking them to second place in the table.

The ‘Quins were forced to reshuffle the side having lost a few players to the First Fifteen.

However there was no lack of commitment and heads never dropped and indeed we were unlucky not to improve on our score.

TAVISTOCK COLTS 22 - CREDITON COLTS 17

The Colts travelled to second placed Tavistock and ran them very close. Although fifth in the Merit Table and unlikely to qualify for the Shield Final, the Colts have fulfilled every fixture to-date and many of their results have been decided by a single score.

The tries were shared amongst the forwards with flanker George Guthrie, No 8 Josh Kenshole and lock Niall Davies-Hale with scrum-half Tyler Farley landing a conversion.

Tomorrow, Saturday, March 17 sees the rescheduled fixture with St Austell which was postponed two weeks ago and supporters are welcome to go along and enjoy buffet food before the game.

It certainly looks like being a busy day at the club. The Seconds have a game against the touring Bath Spartans, kicking off at 1pm; the Thirds take on South Molton Seconds in the Devon Merit Table and the Colts entertain Exeter with a later kick off at 3.30pm.

Paul Harris