Cornwall and Devon

Newquay 19

Tavistock 12

BOTH teams were looking to have a strong start having been relegated together last year.

The game began with the rain starting to fall and this seemed to favour Newquay's bigger pack. The initial phases of play were scrappy with the ball being spilled in contact. Newquay played the conditions better, forcing Tavistock to play from deep.

Tavistock did not clear the rucks effectively enough and Newquay kicked the penalty into the corner. From the resulting lineout Newquay set up a driving maul and powered over the line for the first try of the game, 7-0.

Tavistock made silly errors and tried to play at a pace that did not suit the conditions. Newquay began to stretch the Tavistock defence despite strong tackling from Jason Ward and Matt Martin. Tavistock tried to slow the pace of the Newquay attacks through competitive work at the break down from Dan Oner and Robin Jones.

Newquay found some space out wide and a chip kick turned the defence and allowed the winger to score in the corner, 12-0.

Having given Newquay a confortable start, Tavistock started to dominate the play and pressed Newquay back into their own 22. Doug Lloyd's runs through the heart of the defence allowed Josh Leeson to release the outside backs, George Rodgers and Nick Cunningham, who tested the pace of the opposition. Tavistock however, could not convert any of their opportunities and they went into half time 12-0 down.

The second half began brightly for Tavistock who reclaimed the kick off and again set up camp around the 22. Newquay's defence was starting to creak and they were reduced to 14 men for repeated infringement.

Tavistock had to reshuffle their pack and backline due to injuries to key players, namely Will Glover who had looked dangerous with his elusive running. The changes galvanised the pack with Gareth Buttock and Nick Hockin adding stability to the scrum. This allowed the outstanding Chris Morton to explode from the base and attack the line. He was stopped just short and the evergreen Lee Greatrex was on hand to dart around the side and dive over for a try, 12-5.

Tavistock had a five minute lapse in concentration and conceded another try after some more good work from the Newquay 3 quarters, 19-5.

Back came Tavistock, playing a lot better band of rugby. Their lineout was beginning to function more effectively allowing Adrian Baker to find his jumpers, Andrew Kaka and Morton. With the set piece providing more ball, Tavistock could put more phases together. Newquay were reduced to 14 men towards the end after kicking the ball near their line. Callum Harding's quick feet created space for himself and gave the forwards a target. A quick recycle meant Dan Luffman could inject more pace and the defence opened up for him to score under the posts. Luffman converted his own score, 19-12. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for Tavistock to try and level the match.

Tavistock celebrate the opening of their resurfaced pitch. Sandy Park, with a 3pm kick off verses Pirates Amateurs.