Topsham Colts 26 - Crediton Colts 41

CREDITON RFC Colts travelled to Topsham for round six of the Devon Colts Cup.

Topsham were without a win in the competition and Crediton excited to add to their recent success over Barnstaple a fortnight ago, a competitive game was eagerly anticipated.

On the back of two weeks of superb attitude and application on the training field, Crediton were keen to control the game and stamp their brand on it from the whistle!

The Crediton side were out of the blocks quickly and immediately put the home defence under pressure.

The skill and accuracy of the attacks gradually wore the Topsham side down.

Powerful carries and excellent ball retention and persistent pressure resulted in tries for skipper Tom Ayre, second row Lock Keiron Wallis, Fly Jake Kibbey all crossing opponent’s line from close range, Wing Cookson gathered a well-executed offload from Lock Cliff in his own half and identified the space and took his opportunity showing great pace and evasion to score from the halfway line.

Crediton didn’t have the first half all their own way, the Topsham scrum half exploited a gap close to the breakdown to score.

Topsham’s outside centre, who was a constant threat, powerfully broke through to add a further score and we reached the interval 22-12 ahead.

Crediton made the obligatory substitutions at the break and this young side found themselves in uncharted territory, being two scores ahead and with the game in their hands, the challenge was to stay disciplined, work hard and stick to the game plan.

It certainly worked as the plan was duly executed and it was Ayre who bagged his second try of the game, converted by Kibbey.

To their credit the Topsham boys showed resolve and tenacity to stay in touch as Crediton struggled to maintain their energy and drifted off brief for a 10-minute period the home side to touchdown two tries to close to within eight points and set up a nerve wracking final few minutes.

Fortunately, the Crediton lads showed great maturity and were able to gather themselves sufficiently to regain control and revert to the hard carrying, tactical kicking and accurate finishing that had served them so well for the majority of the game.

Fullback Ben Pulfer crossed the line in the wide channel following some slick handling from the back division.

Scrum Half Jacob Robinson sniped well to score the final try under the posts which Kibbey duly converted to a seven pointer to complete the scoring.

An excellent win for this ever improving Colts side.

Christopher Kibbey