Devon 1
Tavistock 1st XV 16
Honiton 1st XV 15
TAVISTOCK maintained their 100% league record this season with a hard fought victory against a strong Honiton team.
Playing down the Sandy Park slope in the first half, the home side started slowly. A number of mistakes gave Honiton the ball, and sloppy defence allowed them to score the first try.
Despite missing the conversion, the Honiton kicker made amends by slotting a penalty, giving his side an 8-0 lead.
Refereeing decisions continued to go against Tavistock, but they soon bounced back with a try of their own. A mix-up in the Honiton back-line allowed Chris Woods to intercept, before sprinting in to score under the posts. Josh Sutton converted to bring the score back to 8-7.
However, more missed tackles soon gifted Honiton their second try of the half, which was converted to give the away side a 15-7 lead at the interval.
It had not been a good first half performance, but this is a more resilient Tavistock team than in recent seasons. Coach Chris Greatrex left no-one in any doubt that a significant improvement was called for in the second half.
The Moorlanders responded with two Sutton penalties, cutting the deficit to two points. Despite playing the better rugby chances went begging and Tavistock were unable to cross the Honiton try-line.
With 15 minutes left, a penalty on the halfway line gave Sutton another chance.
The kick sailed through the posts to put Tavistock into the lead for the first time in the match.
This time Honiton could not respond and Tavistock held on for the victory.