Friendly match

President's XV 75

Tavistock RFC

Chairman's XV ....12 

ON a fine but cold morning, a good crowd assembled at Sandy Park for Tavistock's traditional Boxing Day match between the president's team and a chairman's XV.

Despite the scoreline, both sides contrived to serve up a good open game of rugby, which was played at full throttle.  

The teams were fairly evenly matched in the forwards, but the president's team's three quarters, bolstered by a number of Tavistock exiles home for the Christmas holidays, contained too much pace for their opponents. Nevertheless, both sides continued to play open adventurous rugby for the whole of the 80 minutes.

The man of the match, playing his first full game of the season, was president's hooker Paul Greenhill, who capped a fine all-round game with three tries.

Exiles Simon Bawden and Alex Hudson both scored a couple of tries, finishing off good handling moves with some devastating pace.

Second rower Andrew Griffiths turned up on the left wing on one occasion to finish a fine move with all the aplomb of a winger.

Gareth Mason,Gareth Davies and Will Brown were also among the scorers for the victors.

The chairman's team boasted a number of father and son combinations, including John and Josh Bancroft and Steve and Jake Luffman.

The losers never gave up and were rewarded with two good consolation tries in the second half.

Thanks are due to all the players who turned out and to Brian Barclay and Ambrose McGuire, who shared the refereeing duties.