Devon 2

North Tawton 17

Prince Rock/Woodland Fort 21

NORTH Tawton put up what must be one of their best performances of the season against a strong, well-drilled side.

This match saw the return of Phil Wale to the half and Andy Poole to first centre for North Tawton, and an excellent back row pairing of the Dennis brothers, Nigel and Gary.

In the early stages the home side worked their way into the opposition half, but could not make the breakthrough.

Training paid off with good lineout work from both North Tawton jumpers, although the Prince Rock fly half, Ben Ashford, was causing problems with his probing runs, feeding good inside passes to his strong running centres.

At the end of the first quarter, sustained pressure by the Prince Rock pack led to a ten-yard push-over try for Grant Bennett, converted by scrum half Dan Leeson. Much of the second quarter was spent in the North Tawton half, the visitors being kept out by determined tackling, especially by the three-quarter line of Phil Wale, Andy Poole, Tony Ash, Simon Fear and Rob McBain.

A missed penalty by Prince Rock led to a 22-metre drop out by North Tawton which failed to carry. This allowed the opposition flanker Duncan Campbell to drive over for another try. This was converted by Leeson to leave Prince Rock 14-0 in the lead at the break.

At the restart North Tawton brought on Charles Ewen at first centre, a change which was to prove fortuitous.

Ten minutes into the second period a set penalty move close to the line allowed Prince Rock?s Bennett to charge in for his second try under the posts, conversion by Leeson.

North Tawton prop Danny Wonnacott had to leave the field to be replaced by Richard Lethbridge and changes were made to the pack. North Tawton pressed into opposition territory and tackling by Rob McBain on the wing and Phil Wale prevented Prince Rock from breaking out.

Ewen delivered a huge kick down into the Prince Rock three metre area, and following an excellent take at the lineout by Tawton captain Neil Peters, Ewen crashed over under the posts for the first home try. Ross Lawrence converted to bring Tawton back into the game.

A tactical change saw Paul Fewings onto the field to replace Lawrence. Two good kicks, the first by Phil Wale picking up a ball off his toes, and a second by Fewings pegged Prince Rock back to the five metre area, but Tawton were unable to take advantage of a poor quick throw-in by the opposition. Penalised for a high tackle, Prince Rock conceded three points to the reliable boot of Fewings.

With the pressure starting to tell, Prince Rock hotly disputed a refereeing decision, which led to two of their players being yellow-carded. A further infringement for a high tackle led to a third of their players being sent off.

Quick thinking and a clever dummy by Ewen resulted in his driving over for his second try from short range. This was converted by Fewings as the final whistle went.

North Tawton hope to continue this improved form in their next match, away in the league to another Plymouth side, Civil Service. Training sessions at Taw Meadows on Wednesday nights are starting to show results and they can look ahead with confidence.