Crediton Thirds 28 - Barnstaple Thirds 22

CREDITON Thirds faced one of their toughest tasks of the season with the visit of Barnstaple Thirds to Blagdon.

In recent years we have generally been on the receiving end of some hefty defeats to the Barum boys but this time with a great mixture of youth and experience we were more than ready!

However, the early signs were that our run of success looked likely to come to an end as Barnstaple came out all guns blazing in the first half.

Some very hard running at a very fast pace as they ran in three tries to reach the interval with a 17-0 lead.

However, it was a credit to the lads for really digging deep in defence with a number of Barum efforts held up over the line.

With the advantage of the slope, the second half was a very different story and after the lads in the first half had worked so hard to keep the score down we brought on fresh legs in Tom O’Donnell, Tariq Sayers, Paul Ratchford, Chris Baker, Ben Baxter, Deyan Tomic, Caoimhin Fogarty and James Hosegood (returning to rugby after many of years away from the game) all of whom made a big impact on the game.

We really immediately took the game to Barum.

After building pressure in the visitors “22” it was Ben Baxter who started the fight back forcing his way over to score with Owen Cooper adding the extras.

This was followed by a superb try then after involving many pairs of hands it was the turn of Joe Warren to go over in the corner for a try with Cooper adding the extras with an excellent conversion.

We then took the lead for the first time when Tom O’Donnell ran at the Barum defence before chipping the ball through the oncoming defenders and winning the foot race to gather his own kick and score.Cooper added the conversion for a 21-17 lead.

That lead was short lived as the visitors responded and gradually worked their way upfield.

They set up an impressive rolling maul and whilst the Thirds did their best, we were unable to contain their great eight-man shove!

The conversion put Barum ahead by a single point and time was certainly not on our side.

In the past, maybe we would have settled for a single point defeat to Barnstaple but this season the Thirds aren't here just to make up the numbers.

In a final throw of the dice, we camped on the Barnstaple line going through several phases as we patiently built up pressure with the forwards trying to crash there way over.

Eventually, the visiting defence got drawn in and fly half Joe Warren passed it out to Matt Woods who took on two defenders to score under the posts, Owen Cooper again stepped up and maintained his 100 per cent record for the day with the final kick of the game.

A fantastic all round performance from the lads and full credit to Barnstaple for be formidable opponents and really pushing us right to the wire, we wish them all the best for the season and look forward to going up to them in the new year.

Jon Gurzynski

Saturday is a rest day for the First XV whilst the Quins travel to Plymstock for the Semi-Final of the Second XV Shield. The Thirds will look to keep the momentum going as they travel to South Molton Seconds and the Colts host Exeter Saracens in the Colts Cup.