Tavistock RFC 1sts 30 Wellington 24 TAVISTOCK nearly managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Wellington at Sandy Park on Saturday. But a hat-trick from scrum half and skipper Lee Greatrex and a last minute try from centre Mike Lyddon secured two valuable league points in a match kindly sponsored by John Maunder. Tavistock dominated the first half with the forwards driving the opposition pack around the park. But the loss of second row Lee Easton severely hampered the Tavistock forward effort and allowed Wellington to contest the scrums more evenly. Despite this dominance the only score of the first half was by Wellington when wing Jamie Andrews crossed in the fifteenth minute of first half injury time. The try was converted by Matt Parsons. The second half saw Tavistock facing a strong wind and Wellington did their best to keep Tavistock penned deep in their own half via kicking from defence. Tavistock eventually got close and Lee Greatrex secured the first try when he darted over after forward pressure. Josh Sutton converted from wide out. Lee doubled his try tally soon after when working with the backs, he crossed close to the posts, Josh Sutton converted. Josh Sutton increased the Tavistock lead soon afterward when he converted a penalty goal from in front of the posts for a 17-7 lead after the forwards had driven the ball close. Wellington got back into the game soon afterward when Richard Parker got on the end of a speculative kick ahead to score wide out. Matt Parsons was unlucky with the conversion which came back off the posts. Tavistock responded with a third Lee Greatrex try, again capitalising on the hard work of the forwards where Paul Greenhill, Tom Dawe and Matt Cole had productive afternoons, either linking in driving forward play or putting in crunching tackles. Wellington again got back into the game when Alex Trott crossed and Matt Parsons converted. Sutton calmed Tavistock nerves with a second penalty goal only to see Wellington reply with a try from Tim Slocombe. Only one point ahead and with time running out Tavistock secured the spoils when, man of the match Duncan Law broke through the centre. When tackled Lee Greatrex moved the ball left and a miss pass by Josh Sutton found Richard Huish on the left wing. Huish cut inside and off loaded to centre Mike Lyddon to finish off a sparkling back move. Next week sees Tavistock travelling to Tiverton, who are currently one place ahead of them in the league. Kick off 2.30pm. l LEFT and BELOW: Tavistock RFC 1sts in action against Wellington at Sandy Park on Saturday. Pictures by James Bird