THE second Tavistock RFC U16s' Sevens Festival was held during the recent Bank Holiday weekend and was hailed by all participants as a resounding success.
Twelve teams from across Devon — including extra players from these clubs making up a Barbarians side —and the hosts entering two teams to make a total of 14 entries.
Tavistock A faced Crediton in their first group match and this resulted in a 28-7 defeat with Robin Jones running in Tavistock's only score. Their second match saw them face Tiverton where two tries from Mark Friend and one from Jack Bond saw them win by 19-5. The final group match was against Barnstaple where the visitors opened the scoring early on. Tavistock hit back and tries from Dan Oner, Phil Snell and another brace by Mark Friend saw them win by 26-14.
Tavistock B found themselves in a tough group with matches against Devonport Services, Kingsbridge, Plymouth Arguam and Newton Abbott. Although they did not win any of their matches, there were good performances from Rufus Gould, Charlie Hubbard and Tom Simmons who scored their only try.
All the matches were competitive and played in a good spirit and resulted in Ivybridge, Devonport Services, Kingsbridge and Crediton progressing to the semi finals of the cup with Tavistock A, Barnstaple, Exeter Chiefs and Sidmouth going in to the Plate.
In Tavistocks A's plate semi final they faced Exeter Chiefs but unfortunately were unable to progress to the final, losing by 19-7 with Mark Friend touching down for Tavistock. The semi-finals of the cup saw Crediton and Ivybridge progress to the final where an exciting, close fought match resulted in Crediton running out tournament winners by 26 points to 21. The semi-finals of the Plate were again close fought with Exeter Chiefs and Barnstaple progressing to the final where Exeter Chiefs beat Barnstaple.