Tavistock 1st XV 21

Devonport High School Old Boys 13

AFTER a poor performance on Wednesday evening, when Tavistock lost to OPOs in the final of the Lockie Cup, they were looking to salvage pride and confidence in this league fixture.

Tavistock were hungry for possession and keener on the ball than DHSOB. They soon began to dictate the passage of play.

Confident mauling and improved rucking from the pack enabled clean ball to be released to the backs. Winger Simon Beatty and full back Gareth Davis linked well in attack, and Beatty was denied by a clever tackle just short of the opposition line.

Tavistock were first to score, by the boot of fly half Joshua Sutton, when a penalty kick was converted. But soon afterwards they lost centre Mark Ninnis, who needed stitches to a cut below the eye. Neil Evans came on as winger, and Barney Dunstan slotted into his old position as centre.

Play was stopped after 15 minutes when a DHSOB flanker broke his leg and an ambulance was called.

Tavistock kept their concentration as play restarted and strong running from Paul Greenhill, Andy Hunt and Dunstan took them close enough to the DHSOP line for Hunt to break from a ruck to run in a great try. The referee awarded a penalty try for an attempted trip, which failed to stop the back row player. DHSOP replied with a penalty just before half-time.

Tavistock played into the wind and uphill in the second half and the wingers and full back lay deep, knowing the fly half's tendency to kick. This paid off, as many kicks failed to reach touch and were collected by Beatty who made good ground with support from Davis and Evans.

The pack continued to compete for loose ball and Tavistock's second try came when prop, Rob Monk, tore the ball from the hands of a DHSOB back. The ball went to ground and was collected by Dunstan, who dived over to score. Sutton converted the try.

His accurate kicking punished DHSOBs for a number of infringements as he piled on the points converting penalties. DHSOBs fought back and weak Tavistock tackling allowed them two easy tries.