Devon Merit League

Tavistock seconds 48

Kingsbridge seconds 17

TAVISTOCKk returned to winning ways, with a comprehensive victory over an experienced Kingsbridge side.

The home team took control from the kick-off and spent most of the game in their opponents half.

Although up against a heavier pack, the Tavistock forwards provided plenty of good possession for their speedy three quarters to find the gaps in the Kingsbridge defence. The home side scored four tries in each half, with flyhalf Ed Kirk  adding three conversions and Thursby one.

Kingsbridge managed to keep their line intact for the first 20 minutes, but then a good break by number eight Mark Friend put James Kaminski in for the first of his four tries.

The visitors continued to defend dourly, but eventually, they gave way to the  continuous pressure and Tavistock scored three more tries in the last five minutes of the half. 

First, the home pack won a scrum against the head, another fine pick-up and run from Mark Friend saw him offload to scrum half Tom Whaley  to score. Kaminski then ran in an excellent individual try and wing Tom Thursby then made an interception midway in his own half and raced 70 metres to the line. The teams changed ends with Tavistock leading 24-0.

The second half started where the first had ended. Mark Friend made another good break from the back of the scrum and burst through the defence in a 50 metre run to the line. This was shortly followed by a good handling move involving Thursby and Whaley and ended with Kaminski bagging his hat-trick. Tavistock then made several substitutions. This caused them to lose their momentum for ten minutes and Kingsbridge took advantage of the lack of concentration, to notch two tries of their own, one of which was converted.

Tavistock then regained the initiative and Kaminski used his pace to score another fine individual try. With both sides tiring, each team scored an unconverted try in the final few minutes, skipper James McDowall doing the scoring for the home side, to leave the final score 48 – 17.

This was another good all round team performance. Among the forwards, Mark Friend was outstanding. Joe Hair; Jake Chinn and Patrick Hobbs worked tirelessly. James Kaminski took his scoring opportunities well; wing Nick Lane and full back Freddy Thompson were prominent throughout.