North Tawton 27 South Molton Seconds 7 THIS non-league fixture against old North Devon opponents allowed North Tawton to try some changes and introduce two new players to the team. Their captain Phil Elkins moved to hooker, supported in the front row by Andy Pyle and Tom Phillips. An early attack by North Tawton was stemmed by a hacked clearance from South Molton?s defence. Full back Tom Davis immediately took them back on the offensive with a characteristic strong-running break, requiring South Molton to defend again from a five metre scrum. Continuing pressure from the scrum gave Tawton?s number 8 Steve King a gap on the open side and his feed to scrum half Chris Martin was shipped quickly to Mike Symons in the centre slot and he crashed through for the first try of the game ? although this went unconverted. South Molton were having some difficulty containing a confident Tawton squad and conceded two quick penalties within kicking range for centre David Fewings ? one of which he put through the posts. The two packs were evenly matched in the set scrums, but Tawton were gradually establishing dominance in the loose play, giving their threes a chance to attack. A break by flanker Kevin Avery took the home team to within 10 metres of the opposition line and an outrageous dummy by Avery left the defence flat-footed as he fed the ball inside to David Fewings. Fewings cut through to touch down and he duly slotted the conversion make it 15 ? 0 to Tawton. South Molton staged something of a comeback, and from a scrum 20 metres from Tawton?s try line their centre Trevor Woodman broke through. The defending tackles finally held him up but the following scrum for Tawton was lost against the head so the line was still in danger. At the next scrum the Tawton pack re-asserted their authority and pushed Molton off their own ball and a penalty was conceded. The long clearance up field by fly half Paul Fewings was followed up well by Keith Jones who plucked the ball out of the air at full speed. He was unlucky that the Molton defence were able to drive the play into touch. New player Keiran Cree came on at half time into the scrum and had a good game, making at least three crucial tackles and collecting a difficult high kick under pressure. Within the first five minutes of the second half starting Tawton produced their best moment of the match, from an attacking lineout 10 metres from Molton?s try line. A flowing move by the threes was kept alive by a slick pass in the centre and the ball was fed out to Shyamal Kotecha on the left wing. He accelerated past the defence to score a well-deserved debut try. South Molton staged an immediate riposte as another break by centre Woodman penetrated the Tawton defence and the recycled ball was finally bundled over the try line by fly half Grant Parker, who also slotted home the conversion. North Tawton showed much better commitment and fire than they did last week as they went back on the attack. A surging break by second row Mike Young off the back of a loose maul was held up close to the Molton line, but the next attack by Paul Fewings found a gap which cut through the defensive line. Close support by Tom Davis and David Fewings was on hand and it was the younger Fewings who took the final pass and touched down. He duly converted from distance to take the score to 27 -7 for North Tawton. A further break by Tawton?s scrum half Chris Martin, who had been having a very effective game, was stopped when the Molton defence managed to overhaul him. North Tawton?s man of the match: second row James Henshaw.
