Withycombe 11
Crediton 10
Withycombe captain John Parkin praised his troops for the "commitment, effort and passion they are showing" after grinding out a win in the trenches at Raleigh Park to make it five wins from five.
It was only the fifth game of the season, but this fixture between the two unbeaten free-scoring teams was already being talked up as though it could have promotion ramifications later in the season. Unfortunately what promised to be a mouthwatering spectacle turned into a dribbling mess at times, with nerves appearing to get the better of both sides at crucial moments and officiating which didn't allow either side to show what they were really capable of.
After Crediton missed a penalty in the first minute, Withycombe had the better of the opening exchanges, and a scrum taken against the head on 12 minutes gave quick ball to Glenn Channing who powered over the tryline in trademark fashion. Three minutes later Channing added a penalty to take the score to 8-0, but that would spell the end of Withycombe's dominance for a while. The second quarter turned into a real slobber knocker, with Crediton making the most of some soft penalties against veteran lock Dave Sims' destructive work in the maul to keep Withycombe penned in.
After the first of many controversial breakdown penalties, Crediton kicked to the corner and their rolling maul took them over, a touchline conversion maing it 8-7. Withycombe would have to hold on another 12 minutes resiting further Crediton forays into Clubhouse Corner but tehir stoic defence held strong.
After half time a
game of rugby threatened to break out between the lineout infringements
and breakdown penalties as both sides attempted to build some rhythm.
The ruck area became something of a lottery and both sides made the most
of the lenient offside line as defence smothered attack on both sides
and shut down the creativity trying to break out.
The only points produced in the workmanlike second half came from the boots of Channing and Mark Lee as they traded penalties two minutes apart with an hour on the clock, although Withycombe dominated the territory battle and came closest to scoring with a 40-metre rolling maul which was pulled down with the tryline begging. Lee missed two more penalties including a speculative punt from his own half with the last kick of the game, but both sides will come away thinking they could have done better.
Still, Parkin was delighted with the win he described an an "8-pointer" and Withycombe's winning start to the season continues. Next week Withycombe travel to Paignton hoping to make it six from six.
No comments:
Post a Comment