The reporters notebook contained two lines by half time and that alone illustrated a fixture which was not for the purists nor an advert for the South West Peninsula League. What is important is that another 3 points were added to the Stoke total......just. Against their recent trend of conceding early goals, Stoke took the lead after 5 minutes with a Dave Worthington special when Jimmy Holland's throw in found Mark Newbould whose hopeful cross was met on the volley by the Ninja on the dge of the box and Fred Tonkin in the visitors goal stood and watched as it screamed into the roof of the net. Holland sustained knee ligament damage on 25 minutes and was replaced by Owen Williams and on 42 minutes Kevin Wills' cross from the left again found a predatory Worthington whose downward header found bounce on the soggy pitch and rebounded up to hit the crossbar before Tonkin palmed away the headed rebound. The crowd welcomed the half time whistle as both sides laboured to string two passes together although territorially Stoke had dominated and could have had the game wrapped up had they been the least bit effective in the attacking third. The second period brightened up a little as on 55 minutes another Newbould cross was handled by a visiting defender and Worthington's spot kick was saved by Tonkin low down to his right before the follow up header was tipped round the post. One goal leads are never enough and the missed penalty seemed to galvanise the visitors who came into the game and began to look as if they could take victory away with them. As it was, Williams one two with Newbould finished by a toe poke wide on 63 minutes for the home side and Kyrton's Steve Goss' 20 yard shot wide on 72 minutes, after Richard Blake had got the better of Kevin WIlls, just about warmed the cockles of the watching few as again Stoke seemed unable to provide the inspiration for a winner. Inevitably, Stoke were punished on 83 minutes when another Goss shot hit Blake on the edge of the 6 yard box and the ball fell invitingly for the striker to shoot home and level the scores. The steam rising from the home technical area went without explanation as the Stoke management's fury ignited. However, the intrepid Sam Green saved their blushes as Wills and Ty Hawken combined to thread a ball to the edge of the box from where Green exquistely side footed home in what was the 6th minute of injury time to seal the victory. Kick off, one pass and the final whistle was how close it had been. Opinion was divided afterwards with the Crediton management pointing out the openness of the league while Blake astutely recognised that had Stoke converted pressure and territory into goals the game would have been over as a contest well before he struck. What Stoke appear to need is to rid themselves of an emerging habit of dominating games without punishing the opposition as this quality of performance will see them quickly dragged back into the pack if it persists. Much tougher tests lie ahead and 'clinical and cynical' is a trait they could do with adopting.