Teignmouth 36 Crediton 5

Given the state of the pitch on Friday evening it was something of a minor miracle that this match took place at all, let alone that it provided some excellent entertainment for the past players of Teignmouth RFC, who also enjoyed a splendid pre-match lunch in their honour.
But it is a measure of how this year’s successful promotion campaign has enervated the club’s members that so many of them donned wellingtons and dug out buckets and scoops from the garden shed to remove the gallons of standing water from the playing surface. It was only right and proper that the players should respond to this level of support with a performance which coach Simon Morrell rated as their best of the season.
Crediton have struggled this season and are still not safe from relegation, which is a real surprise to most observers – certainly in the first match between the sides back in November they gave the Teigns a real fright, and for much of this match their battle-hardened forwards put up stiff resistance.
But Teignmouth haven’t headed this league for most of the season for no reason; a combination of strong, agile forwards and talented backs has been too much for most sides, and so it eventually proved on Saturday.
The visitors’ didn’t manage to get out of their own half until first-half injury time, but their courage and determination kept the score down to a respectable level as Teignmouth scored three tries through centre Will Sowden, winger Chris Sherlock and flanker Luke Pattison. Full back Dan Force added two conversions and a penalty before Crediton’s scrum half Mike Pearce finally got his side on the scoreboard following a determined drive by his forwards.
Turning round 22-5 in the lead, Teignmouth didn’t have things all their own way in the opening quarter of an hour of the second half. Indeed it was the visitors who were the more threatening for a while, but one always suspected that the home side had another gear, and so it was that centre Chris Tidman finally burst through a tiring defence to earn his side a bonus point by touching down under the posts for the fourth try, which Force again converted.
By this stage the dreadful conditions had begun to take a toll on both sides, and with the result no longer in doubt they understandably took their foot off the pedal.
However, Teignmouth again showed a superior level of fitness in injury time with the pack driving over the Crediton line and hooker Pete Parsons touching down. Force completed the scoring with the conversion.
After the game Morrell said that, having won promotion with so many games remaining put him in the happy position of being able to begin preparations for the Western Counties League during the last few matches of this season. He was particularly pleased with the way the team coped with the conditions, as he felt that that had not always been the case in recent weeks. He pointed out that the man with the cleanest shirt at the end of the game, fly half Will Luscombe, had had the biggest influence on the team’s performance with his crisp distribution and excellent kicking from hand.
This weekend the club can take a break from league pressures as the traditional Easter tourists Old Merchant Taylors visit Bitton Park for a 2.30 kick off.