Devon 1
Ilfracombe 7
Tavistock 85
TAVISTOCK bounced back from the previous week's league defeat with a 13-try rout of Ilfracombe on Saturday.
Tavistock lost veteran Lee Easton when he had to cry off late due to illness and despite a number of enforced changes were far too strong for the North Devon side.
The basis for the victory was a strong forward platform that allowed the young backs to run riot. Among the forwards, prop Steve Langdon and flanker Paul Greenhill were always to the fore in the loose, snaffling ball and denying the opposition.
In the lineout Andy Hunt was the dominant force, securing all the Tavistock put-in and disrupting the Ifracombe ball. From the base of the scrum number eight Andrew Griffiths had a storming game, either picking up and breaking Ilfracombe's defence or linking with scrum half Lee Greatrex allowing him time to either get his backs moving or to make breaks.
Tavistock took the lead after only two minutes when Neil Evans chipped the ball over the defence, allowing winger Ben Neale to run on to it, catching on the full and diving over in the corner to score. Evans converted this try along with nine others.
Evans was next to score when he ghosted through the defence to score next to the posts. Not to be outdone the forwards got on the scoresheet when Rob Sleep was driven over by the pack.
Skipper Greatrex got the next try after breaking from the base of the scrum. He beat his opposite number and the entire home side's back row. Centre Duncan Law then scored the first of his four tries after powerful running in the centre.
Winger Josh Sutton set up Evans for his second try with a sweetly timed pass on the wide right and Mike Lyddon completed the first half scoring allowing Tavistock to go into the break 49-0 to the good.
At the beginning of the second half Ilfracombe showed they had not given up and tested the Tavistock defence. They absorbed the pressure and responded with second row forwards Robin Weldon, playing out of position and Andy Hunt marking a number of typically direct charges.
Flanker Dan White put in some hard work around the fringes, stopping the Ilfracombe momentum. The scoring continued via tries from prop Rob Monk, full back Mark Baker and Duncan Law.
Ilfracombe did crack the visitors' defence with a try from their centre Swain and a conversion from fly half Prentice.
But Tavistock stormed back with Law's fourth try and a final try from Greatrex who ran in from more than 50 metres.
This victory keeps the pressure on league leaders OPMs as the Tavistock for and against points difference is superior.
This week sees both Tavistock firsts and seconds travelling to Cullompton.