Tavistock RFC 1sts 21

Hayle RFC 3

TAVISTOCK put on yet another impressive performance on Saturday showing why they are the team to fear in the Devon and Cornwall league.

From the kick-off Tavistock gave little respect for league leaders Hayle, as they controlled all the early exchanges with tidy and efficient work from the forwards and clever positional kicking from the superb Richard West at fly half.

Sadly Tavistock were forced into an early substitution with the electric Danny Luffman having to be helped off the pitch with a serious looking leg injury, fortunately they had ample backup in Greg Fairchild who didn't put a foot wrong all match.

It took nearly 20 minutes to get the opening score. As the pressure began to build, Hayle were left with little alternative but to repeatedly infringe at the breakdown just to stay in the game. They were clearly struggling to cope with the power from Tavistock's scrum with Matt Martin, Lloyd James and Adrian Baker dominating their opposite numbers. With a penalty being awarded in front of the posts, West calmly slotting the first points of the match, 3-0.

It was at this point that Tavistock realised Doug Lloyd was being severely hampered with what would turn out to be a very nasty injury to his hand, despite this, he turned in a majestic first half performance at centre, keeping his opposite number out of the game.

Tavistock kept Hayle constantly on the back foot with some fantastic lines being run by their backs, in particular Charlie Furnival, whose strong running and exceptional fielding display at fullback was a joy to watch. with a Hayle player yellow-carded, Tavistock's pack ploughed into the weakening Hayle defence and strong drives, masterfully orchestrated by Ewan Smith, brought Tavistock deep into the Hayle 22 as Tavistock began peppering the Hayle try line, only to be denied by one of the posts.

Andrew Schuttkacker powered for the line and with an outstretched arm placed the ball clearly over the try line, only for the referee to claim otherwise and drag Tavistock back for an earlier offence by the now desperate, Hayle defence. With Tavistock's pack in dominate mood, the option of a scrum was taken instead of a more straight forward kick at the posts and Tavistock didn't disappoint with number eight Andrew Griffiths charging towards the line, offloading just short to Duncan Law to touchdown, 8-0 and half time shortly after.

In the second half Tavistock became a little sloppy, gifting Hayle several kickable penalties. Fortunately for Tavistock the first one missed, even more fortunate for Tavistock the second struck the posts bouncing back into the field of play only for Tavistock's Duncan Law to pounce onto the ball. Eventually Hayle's kicker found his range and slotted their first points, 8-3.

Tavistock had hoped for a quick turnaround after conceding those three points but sadly a misunderstanding between the powerful centre Ross Batten and the referee resulted in the Tavistock player having a 10 minute break on the side-lines.

Tavistock seemed to galvanise as a team as they took the match back to Hayle, again with West sending some delightful field kicks over the top of the Hayle defence and Tavistock's Mark Friend putting in several formidable runs in an unfamiliar role on the wing.

The Tavistock pack confirmed their superiority as they caught and drove Hayle back over the line, James Bruna the player to emerge from the pile of bodies to claim the try. West converted to take the score to a more comfortable 15-3.

Another score was to arrive with West dropping into the pocket for a perfectly placed drop goal, 18-3.

Tavistock forwards, in particular Lloyd James, Duncan Law and Andrew Schuttkaker driving hard at the deflated Hayle defence and the backline cutting some sublime angles, managed to work themselves back into the Hayle 22, West then positioned himself into the pocket feigned to kick, sidestepping the would-be tackler before dropping another audacious drop goal, clipping the post as it went over, 21-3 and full time.

Next week Tavistock firsts have a well-earned week off.

l Pictures by James Bird