Bideford Colts 19
Tavistock Colts 17
TAVISTOCK started like an express train and were ten points up inside the first quarter. The forwards hit the rucks and mauls with venom and this allowed the backs plenty of room to run at the defence.
After good work by Darren Sutton and Andrew Barwick Tavistock opened the scoring when fly half Paul Harwood ran in a superb individual try, scrum-half Josh Sutton converting. Further pressure resulted in Bideford giving away a penalty which Sutton converted.
But Tavistock went to sleep for the remainder of the half allowing Bideford to run in three tries and they got to half-time a shaky 19-10 in arrears.
After half-time Tavistock renewed their efforts and with skipper Duncan Law leading in the centre they spent virtually all the half in Bideford territory.
The backs ran incisively with Chris Freeman, Louis Addaway, Richard Bridle and Simon Beard all prominent. Even when Bideford did get into the Tavistock half they were driven back by excellent positional kicking by Josh Sutton.
Points did not come from the backs and it was left to the forwards to get across the Bideford line.
First John Paine and Richard Lloyd were held up short but finally Hamish Pearce Danker crossed for a deserved score. Sutton converted.
Tavistock continued to press for a winning score with Richard Lloyd excellent both in attack and with excellent aggressive tackling. But three penalty attempts went wide as did an attempted drop goal which turned out to be the last kick of the game.
Man of the match: Richard Lloyd.