Tribute Devon two

North Tawton 3

Old Technicians 6

NORTH Tawton rang the changes in the three-quarters for this league match against Plymouth's Old Technicians, who are one place behind Tawton in the league.

Simon Quick moved to scrum-half for Tawton, David Fewings to fly-half and Rob North took up position at inside centre, the spot occupied some seasons ago by his father Dave North.

Strong scrummaging by the Tawton pack saw them dominating the early phases, but two penalty kicks into the strong wind were missed and the home side failed to capitalise on their advantage.

Old Techs defended well and, despite a yellow card for a mauling infringement, they came back into the match. A penalty to Old Techs was converted by Ryan Tunnicliffe to give them the lead.

The strength of the Old Techs back five in the scrum began to tell and it was Tawton's turn to defend desperately. They did not clear decisively, and could not establish any lineout dominance, an area in which they have been very good in previous matches.

A spate of injuries to both sides showed the intensity of the effort by the players. A poor pass was fumbled by Tawton and gave Old Techs a break down the left wing. A try was saved by a good covering tackle by Quick and Tawton held out until the half-time whistle.

With the wind behind them Tawton attacked in the second half and finally gained a penalty for David Fewings to even up the score. North Tawton brought on substitute Lawrence McKone, returning to the team after a long injury lay-off and replacing injured full- back Tom Davis.

Good play by Old Techs again put Tawton under pressure and following a scrum 15 metres from the Tawton line they were awarded another penalty chance for Tunnicliffe to push them back into a slender lead.

A flare up following a maul resulted in a red card for an Old Techs' player, but naïve play and some poor decision-making by Tawton meant they were never able to take advantage of the extra player, nor the strong wind in their favour.

Finally a well-placed chip by Quick over the top and a good follow-up by right wing Matt Weekes took them within range of the Old Techs' line. Once again they failed to convert position into points as another penalty chance was missed.

A last effort from back row Steve King following a better maul by Tawton almost saw him go over the line but it was all a bit too late and Old Tecs were delighted when the final whistle went with the scores unchanged.

This win meant they were equal second with North Tawton, behind only on points difference.