CREDITON 33 - FALMOUTH 19

THE supporters who braved the changeable conditions at Blagdon on Saturday, January 26 saw two rare sights this season – the home side having the lead at half-time and the boys securing a bonus point win!

That being said, we did not have everything our own way. Falmouth put up a strong fight and will be disappointed not to have left with something, indeed they were mere seconds away from a losing bonus point.

The Kirton lads were keen to get off to a good start following the sluggish one the previous week and all was going to plan when Jason Luff scurried in for a try within the first couple of minutes.

Falmouth were slow to clear from the kick-off and the attempt was charged down, they did recover to get the ball into touch.

However, we did win the lineout and a couple of passes later, Luff was in under the posts, Ollie Avery-Wright converted for a 7-0 lead.

Stung by this early score, Falmouth secured possession from the restart and put together some decent phases as the weather conditions deteriorated. Both sides were trying to play some expansive rugby but were making errors, and neither could get a firm grip on the game.

A Falmouth penalty, as we were caught offside, got three points back for the visitors but Avery-Wright responded with one for a high tackle to get the lead back to seven.

Three more points from the Falmouth boot made it 10-6 until, with half-an-hour gone, we opted to kick for the corner rather than a shot at goal after Falmouth had infringed.

With the lineout secured, Jason Luff joined the big boys in the driving maul before breaking off and diving over for his and the teams second try. No extras were added, and it was 15-6 which soon became 15-9.

We couldn’t quite shake the visitors off although we were starting to enjoy more possession.

Having had some success keeping the ball with the pack, the forwards set off on a series of picks and drives. Showing real patience through several phases, the result was a try for Dan Yendell right on half-time.

With a 20-9 half-time lead, we could have been fooled into thinking things looked pretty comfortable and when we had a couple of attacks down the left it looked as though we would not have to wait too long for the bonus point try.

However, those attacks came to nothing and Falmouth, who weren’t going to give up easily, gradually regained their composure and started putting a few moves together.

With possession and territory in their favour we were under pressure. We started giving away silly penalties, one resulting in a yellow card for Mark Nott.

Falmouth scored a catch and drive try of their own to bring the score to 20-14 and nerves on the touchline were being tested to the limit and not helped when the visitors repeated the exercise to bring them to within a point. A couple of penalties from Avery-Wright helped them to settle once again.

Having failed on all but one other occasion to secure a home bonus point win, the Kirton lads were on the hunt for a fourth try.

A series of scrums, where Falmouth were under extreme pressure on their own line, wore the visiting pack down allowing Dan Yendell to burrow over for his second and the bonus point try. The conversion was successful leaving the final score 33-19.

This was a much better performance than the previous week with improvements all round. The players know there are still things to work on, but Falmouth were a good side who played some nice rugby and made life difficult. They were worth a bonus point.

It was great to see so many people at the club on Saturday. As well as the First Fifteen match sponsors, a number of long-standing club members treated themselves to a pre-match meal courtesy of our excellent caterers.

Add to this a big crowd for both the First Fifteen and Colts, including some old faces who we haven’t seen for a while, and the bar staff had themselves a very busy afternoon!

It’s Wellington away tomorrow in a re-arranged league game.

A shortage of players, backs in particular, presented a big problem for the Seconds and an even bigger one for the Thirds.

QUINS

With several players playing out of position it was always going to be a difficult games from the outset. The forwards actually dominated the scrums but we were constantly under pressure.

Brixham used the wind to their advantage and kept us on the back foot and despite some sterling defensive work, gaps did open which the home side made full use of. Result Brixham 35-Crediton 0.

The knock-on effect was that there were insufficient players to raise a third team.

COLTS

The Colts entertained Brixham Colts in a top versus second place battle in the Devon Colts Plate. A well contested game saw both sides play some good rugby with the Crediton lads victorious at 22-0 to cement their place at the top of the table.

The game was cut short due to an injury to a Brixham player and we hope he has made a full recovery.

Josh Woodland chipped in with his usual couple of tries and there was one apiece for Will Crang and Tyler Farley. Owen Cooper landed a conversion.

FIXTURES

Tomorrow (Saturday, February 2) sees the third attempt to get the game played at Wellington, the second attempt just before Christmas was called off somewhat surprisingly due to the state of the pitch. Surprisingly? Well there were many games in the area, both football and rugby that seemed to survive what was a particularly rainy few days and we were somewhat mystified by the decision.

The Colts travel to Exeter Athletic in a bid to retain their position at the head of the table.

Paul Harris