Cornwall and Devon

Tavistock 20

Pirates Amateurs 31

A BUMPER crowd enjoyed the opening of the club's new pitch and floodlights.

The home side started brightly with the wind at their backs and from the kick off they forced the Pirates into their own 22. Good pressure at the breakdown allowed the backs to close the space between them and the opposition. The Pirates tried to clear the ball but the kick was charged down by Dan Luffman who pounced on the loose ball to score near the posts.

The restart was collected well which gave Chris Morton his first opportunity to challenge the defence with his aggressive running. Morton set a good target for his pack mates Andrew Griffiths and Dan Oner to clear the ruck and give the backs quick ball. The ball was moved down the line giving space for George Rodgers to show his attacking flare. The Pirates where struggling to live with the pace of the game and started to infringe at the rucks.

Tavistock failed to make them pay with missed shots at the posts and went in search of further tries. Andrew Kaka was dominant in the lineout supported by excellent pod work from Matt Martin, Adrian Baker and hooker Lloyd James. Tavistock were able to set up driving mauls which provided Lee Greatrex chances to test the Pirates line around base. Greatrex's quick feet and mind sucked in the Pirates defence which created space out wide for Luffman to score his and Tavistock's second try.

The Pirates capitalised on a silly error in midfield giving them their first points through a well struck penalty goal. This was a momentary foray into Tavistock's half as the hosts kept up the pressure driving the Pirates deep into their own half. Tavistock were then unfortunate to lose their talisman Adrian Baker due to an injury.

Tavistock had the Pirates pinned on their five metre line and the referee finally lost patience with them and reduced their numbers by sending a player into the sin bin for repeated offences. Tavistock went for the jugular by opting for a scrum and pushed the Pirates over their line thanks to awesome power from props Martin and replacement Nick Hocking - Morton was the grateful recipient finishing off a great forwards try.

Tavistock wasted further opportunities to add to their halftime lead, not least Duncan Law uncharacteristically knocking the ball on over the line. At half time the score was 15-3 to Tavistock.

The second half started in stark contrast to the first with Tavistock unable to control the ball. Despite the line being led superbly by Doug Lloyd and Ewan Smith the Pirates were picking holes in the Tavistock defence and started scoring freely. Tavistock looked shell-shocked and were committing more offences — with James sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle.

The introduction of Robin Jones sparked Tavistock back to life and they began to assert themselves again creating more chances to score, although Tavistock were having to chase the game as time was running out. Richard West showed his class and put Luffman into space; Luffman shook off some weak tackling and sprinted over the white wash to score his hat-trick try.

The Pirates held off the last of Tavistock's frantic attacks and the referee signalled full-time leaving Tavistock to wonder how they lost a match they dominated for so long. Tavistock's man of the match went to Duncan Law.