Tavistock U13s 29

Exeter Chiefs U13s 0

TAVISTOCK captain Chris Dawe won the toss and elected to play up the slope. Exeter?s large pack tried to roll mauls against Tavistock?s try-line but solid defence coupled with searing breaks by Ewan McCall denied them a score.

From a penalty inside Tavistock?s 22 Andrew Smerdon passed the ball to Jack Hodges, then Jimmy Hubbard, and Josh Bancroft combined before Lorne Bell burst through the remains of a startled Exeter to run 50 metres and score.

The heavier Exeter pack became frustrated as Marcus Simms stole several balls against the head and props John White and Mark Kirswell ripped balls out of the mauls to keep the defence solid.

The second half saw Exeter attack up the slope. Doug Watts and Darren White stopped moves in their tracks with aggressive tackling, before Tom Hancock and Stuart Hoddinott recycled turnover ball.

From one of these rucks Watts fed Hubbard and Bancroft before Hodges split the defence in two and scored under the posts. Smerdon kicked the conversion.

Exeter again carried the game to Tavistock but replacement Mark Smith dumped their speeding winger as Watts scooped up the ball and ran the full length of the pitch to score his first try. This was again converted by Smerdon.

At the restart Chris Dawe recovered the ball. From the maul Kirswell drove down the field with the ball passed between forwards and backs leading to Hancock driving over the try-line with the Exeter wing and centre still hanging off his back.

James Tailyour, at hooker, brought fresh legs into the pack and stole an Exeter put-in to the scrum which was passed to Watts for his second and final try of the game.

Men of the match: Doug Watts and Mark Kirswell.

This week Tavistock play Teignmouth away, meeting in the square at 9am on Sunday.

Tavistock U16s 12

THE first ten mimutes was all Tavistock but two defensive lapses let the visitors in for two tries followed by a third before half-time.

The game was stopped for half an hour due to an injury. Tavistock applied early pressure with Alex Moy finishing a good move with a try he converted himself. Sam Morton finished a good game with a try of his own but Exeter enjoyed three more.

Alex Nail won the man of the match award with Ian Jones and Colin Jones pushing hard. Algae Gordon, playing against a much bigger prop, did well all game.