Teams 
Chiefs Back To Winning Way‘s
Chiefs 43–26 Crediton
Try’s : Pearn ×2, Smale, Folland, Stevenson, Bone, Evans-Pearce
Conversions: Harris ×2, Pearn ×2
The Chiefs bounced back from last week’s disappointment against league leaders Topsham with a commanding 43–26 victory away at Crediton. The message going into this one was simple: improvement was needed. With several players unavailable, opportunities were handed to Liam Balsdon, Reece Pearn, and Ollie Hedden, who all stepped into the squad.
After a solid warm-up, the Chiefs looked focused, quiet, but clearly up for the challenge. Having faced Crediton in pre-season, they knew what to expect: serious pace in the backline and some powerful forwards.
The Chiefs started the brighter of the two sides, initially trying to score from every phase. But once they settled, it paid off, with a slick blindside move ending in a well-finished try from Dec Smale in the corner.
Crediton hit back quickly, using their pick-and-drive game to good effect, edging ahead 7–5. But it wasn’t long before the Chiefs responded. Dean Folland powered over from the base of a scrum, dragging four Crediton defenders with him.
Next up, Freddy Palmer made a big impact with a smart kick behind the Crediton defence. Charlie Stevenson timed his run perfectly, gathered the bounce, and sprinted over for an impressive solo try. Unfortunately, Palmer took a knock to the eye shortly after, forcing him off and triggering tactical reshuffles. Liam Balsdon shifted into a backline cover role, Ben Short came on in the front row, and Dec Smale moved to second row. Short made an immediate impact, dominating his opposite prop with some strong scrummaging.
The second half brought a flurry of tries. Reece Pearn produced two stunning individual scores, slicing through the defence off pod plays and touching down under the posts both times. After a tough outing last week, skipper Nick Bone bounced back brilliantly, carrying hard and capping his performance with a classic pick-and-go try.
The scoring wrapped up with Dave Evans-Pearce, who charged into the corner under heavy pressure from the Crediton defence and grounded the ball impressively.
To Crediton’s credit, they never gave up and battled to the end, earning two late penalty tries from scrums, despite being largely outmuscled in the set piece throughout by a dominant Bideford pack.
All in all, this was a much-improved performance. The back three—Charlie Stevenson, Mitch Harris, and Sam Olde, were excellent, while the pack delivered across the board. Special mentions go to Fraser Priest, Ben Short, and Dean Folland for their work up front. Reece Pearn stepped into the No. 10 shirt with confidence, and the ever-reliable Fred Fishleigh helped steer the ship calmly.
Its cup week next week at Home so look forward to the Biddy support.
Quins Dominate in Home Victory Over Crediton
Bideford Quins 50–7 Crediton
Try’s: Denford ×2, Paddon ×2, Teape, Braddick, Stacey ×2
Conversions: Waters ×5
Bideford Quins continued their fine form on Saturday with a commanding 50–7 win at home against Crediton, despite missing several regular players. Five players made their seasonal debuts—Seb Sanders, Ollie Sanders, Jamie Giddy, Matt Bowes, and Harry Jones—all of whom played their part in an excellent team performance.
The Quins struck early, with Billy Teape and Cameron Vallely immediately causing problems for the Crediton defence. Their early pressure created space for Tim Denford to open the scoring, quickly followed by Ethan Paddon crossing the line. Amos Waters, settling into the fly-half role, added the extras.
Crediton responded with a well-executed catch-and-drive to score what would be their only points of the match. From that point on, it was all Bideford.
The Quins dominated the set piece, providing a solid platform for their backs to run riot. Tries flowed throughout the match, with further scores from Billy Teape, Tim Denford (his second), Danny Braddick, and a brace from fullback Reuben Stacey, who had an outstanding game from the back. Ethan Paddon also grabbed his second, while Amos Waters was reliable from the tee, adding four more conversions to his tally.
It was another strong all-round team performance, with standout contributions from Cameron Vallely, Reuben Stacey, and Zack Powell. With five more merit table points in the bag, the Quins now look ahead to a home clash against Barnstaple this Saturday.
Colts Impress With A Win At Tavistock
Tavistock Colts 0 – 34 Bideford Colts
Bideford Colts travelled to Tavistock with a development squad and returned with a convincing 34–0 victory, delivering a performance full of effort, energy, and promise for the future.
The team put in a complete performance, with tries from Oli Grierson (2), Ethan Walker (2), Oscar Price, and Harvey Beal. The backline showed real pace and cohesion, while the forwards laid a strong foundation throughout.
It was a day to remember for several players making their season debuts—Oli Grierson, Tom Thorne, Arthur Jackson, Cameron Bertullis, and Max Monterieux all stepped up brilliantly and made an immediate impact.
Man of the Match honours were deservedly shared between Ethan Walker and Arthur Jackson, both putting in outstanding shifts in attack and defence.
A superb team performance and a proud day for the coaching staff and supporters alike. Well done, gents!
Under 14s
Bideford U14s vs Bude U14s
Final Score: Bideford 10 – 5 Bude
Bideford Under 14s produced a heroic performance to edge out a much bigger Bude side 10–5 in a thrilling encounter.
Right from the first whistle, it was clear that Bude’s game plan was to use their size advantage, sending their big runners straight up the middle. But Bideford had other ideas. The boys tackled everything that came their way with relentless determination, shocking Bude with their commitment and defensive grit.
Bideford’s first try came through Joe Dawson, finishing off a well-worked team move that showed great handling and support play. Then, in his first ever rugby game, Connor marked the occasion in style by crossing the line to give Bideford the lead and send the supporters into cheers.
Every single player put their heart into the performance—covering every blade of grass, supporting each other, and showing true Bideford spirit.
The Man of the Match award went to Cole White, who was outstanding in a new role at full-back. His brilliant tackling, strong running, and composed kicking were key to keeping Bude at bay and securing the win.
Under 12’s
A nearly full U12 squad met early today to start the day with a photoshoot on the main pitch wearing the new kit. We also welcomed back Ross to the match day squad after playing for the opposition last week. We headed over to the pitch and welcomed a large (in numbers and size) Bude side to the fortress. It looked like we were in for a battle and it proved to be so. The first quarter started a little bit cagey and both sides saw some strong tackling and mauling.
We managed to get our noses in front with some good straight running and good rucking over the ball. The second quarter saw us start to rotate the subs and we kept up that intensity in both the tackle and maul. The match started to get a little niggly around the halfway mark but the team stood up well and carried the momentum forward through out to the end of the match only letting in one try and scoring a good bag full.
There were multiple tries of the day with some good moving the ball through the hands and some slick runs with offloads to supporting players but stand out was the try in the 4th quarter where after some strong forward play pushing us up field near the try line we passed the ball out wide even still passing the ball when over the try line to Harry to touch down. Again we could have picked from multiple players today for Player of the day. It deservedly went to Ronnie though who not only had a couple of tries to his name but also fronted up and didn’t back down to the Bude side through out. Impressive performance.
Under 11’s v Bude
The mighty under 11’s crossed the border to face Bude for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. The previous encounters between the teams had been tight affairs, and this game was no different, with Bideford edging it by a single try.
Bideford’s defence was worked hard by Bude’s bigger direct runners, but great teamwork limited the oppositions chances. The winning try was a thing of beauty, that even had Bude’s parents and coaches praising.
Well played all.
