INJURY-HIT Barnstaple Colts made a fight of it as they lost 13-6 at Crediton.

Losing 12 players to injury and unavailability, Barum travelled with just 15.

They took the lead, but Crediton sneaked ahead just before the break and confirmed the win with two second-half penalties.

Barum coach Andy Gubb said: "We couldn't fault the effort of the lads. I am gutted for them as they have given so much effort and come away with no reward."

Byron Saunders' penalty opened the scoring but crucially Barum, looking more dangerous with ball in hand, were denied a try by the referee.

Sean Deasy threw a miss-pass behind Nigel East to Ryan Carter who burst through two tackles to score an excellent try that was ruled out when the ref penalised Barum for crossing.

Saunders' second penalty put them 6-0 up but, just before half-time, on a rare foray into the Barum half, Crediton drove a line-out close to the line and sneaked over for a converted try to take the lead.

In a bruising second half, Crediton used their strong bench to good effect.

Wave after wave of attacks were repelled but Barum's discipline creaked and Zander Laval was sent to the bin for an offside offence. Crediton kicked two penalties to take a seven-point lead which, despite Barum pressing, never looked under threat.