Tavistock 1sts. . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

D H S O B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

TAVISTOCK celebrated promotion as champions of Devon Division One in front of a large crowd at Sandy Park on Saturday with a comprehensive demolition of Devonport High School Old Boys.

The foundation of the victory was laid by the forwards who dominated in all areas of the game. The most impressive area of their display being the ability to move the ball at speed in the open and in close contact.

Tavistock opened the scoring via hooker Rob Sleep who was driven over the Old Boys from a lineout. A second try soon followed from skipper Lee Greatrex who was put free with a pass from Paul Greenhill again after good work from the forwards.

The three quarters then got in on the act and winger Paul Allen scored two tries in the left corner after some powerful running and good handling by the backs in mid field. The final try of the first half was scored by Lawrence Evans who, after joining the line from full back scored close to the posts. Fly half Josh Sutton converted three of the first half scores.

The first twenty minutes of the second half saw Tavy battle away at the Old Boys but unable to break a much tighter defence. The Old Boys put pressure on Tavistock but found Mike Lyddon and Duncan Law in the centre in great form and were unable to find a way through.

Tavistock did extend their lead when second row forwards Andy Hunt and Darren Cole both got on the score sheet and Mike Lyddon added another. The final ten minutes of the game was all Tavy with replacements Lee Easton, Neil Evans and Rob Monk all providing fresh legs to make large amounts of ground into their opponents territory.

The final try fell appropriately to prop Tom Hurdwell who crowned a magnificent individual performance when he ran though virtually the entire Old Boys team to score in the right hand corner. Josh Sutton converted one of the second half tries.

Next Saturday sees Tavistock travel to Honiton for the final of the Devon Cup against the hosts kick off 3:00pm.

Tavistock 2nds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

DHSOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

TAVISTOCK have started their run up to their cup final on Wednesday April 28 against Tamar Saracens.

In this outstanding victory, Tavistock played with the strong wind in the first half and started at a cracking pace. With stand-in skipper veteran Martyn Credicott kicking the ball deep into the corner and putting DHSOB under pressure The pack, led by another great veteran Johnny Wakem and understudy Jim Jeffreys put a lot of pressure on DHSOB pack with Matt Martin and Paul Edwards again having outstanding games.

First try for Tavistock came from Alistair Fry which was followed quickly by a further seven tries scored by Chris Steer, hooker Dave Welsh, wing Dan Alford, number 8 Andy Griffiths and Shaun Buttle.

Then Fry completed his hat-trick with a further two tries, with seven conversions coming from skipper Credicott.

A half time approached the referee asked skipper Credicott to tell the pack to ease off, or he would cut the second half short.

This led to silly mistakes and penalties given away as DHSOB started to play, but the Tavistock pack were strong, with fresh legs from Neil Cole and veteran Tony Welsh coming on.

More tries in the second half were scored by flanker G Stear and another hat-trick by scrum half Shaun Buttle.

Hopefully the positive play will continue on Wednesday in the final at Devonport Services, evening, kick-off 6pm.