Crediton Thirds 62 - Exmouth Thirds 14

With the game in doubt due to the heavy downpour overnight, the true spirit of rugby came to the fore when a number of the Crediton RFC Third XV turned up to set about spiking the pitch and of course their efforts were rewarded as the puddles gradually disappeared and the pitch was declared fit.

Exmouth Thirds have struggled a bit this season but with 12 players, they made the effort to turn up and for the second time during the day, the spirit of rugby turned up trumps as we loaned them players and another game of rugby went ahead.

It was a hard fought match and the result did not show the true competitive nature of the game between the two sides.

Exmouth started strongly and enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the early stages.

However, a couple of handling errors allowed Crediton to grab a couple of tries.

As the half went on Crediton started to dominate the game but Exmouth battled away and kept in touch.

The second half was a different story as Crediton started to run away with the game a bit, some fresh legs helped the cause, something Exmouth lacked.

The backs contributed seven tries with Tom O’Donnell showing great strength and pace to run in two of them, Harry Hustwayte back in his natural position on the wing and doing what he does best also scored twice.

The ageless Bradley Baker rolling back the years and carving up the defence with ease to touch down three times.

The forwards tries came from the experienced Sam Rowe leading from the front as usual, the ever improving Lewis Cook using his power and debutante Will Hunter showing great promise for the future scoring his first try on his first senior game!

Full credit to Exmouth for fighting all the way to the end of the game and scoring two tries which they fully deserved after all of the effort they put in and we wish all the best for the rest of the season.

Many thanks goes to the referee for ensuring a great game flowed and ensuring everyone enjoyed themselves.

Finally, a special thanks go to the Colts Mothers and other ladies who prepared and served a lovely bit of post-match grub post as the catering staff were unavailable.

Hopefully we can take this performance into this weekend when we host possible stronger opposition in Ilfracombe at home.

Jon Gurzynski