Tetley Vase second round

Tavistock 37

North Tawton 0

TAVISTOCK's hopes of success in the Tetley Vase competition were brought a step closer on Saturday, when they comprehensively defeated their Devon II opponents in this knock-out competition.

Tavistock got off to a dream start. Tawton knocked the ball forward from Tavistock's kick off and scrum half Sean Buttel spun it wide. A perfectly executed dummy-switch move in the centre sent the ball out to Neil Evans on the wing, who ran in a try in the opening minutes. Fly half, Adam Bridgewater, converted.

Evans scored soon after, when the Tavistock backs moved the ball quickly wide, and he took a well-timed pop pass to run through the unsuspecting defence.

The home side's pack performed better than in recent games, and efficient scrummaging and rolling-mauls gave them a chance to add points to the board.

Andy Hunt, the towering second row was first to force his way over from an impressive Tavistock drive and the nimble hooker, Rob Slee, emerged with the ball over the opponents' line after a devastating driving maul. A solid drive from a five-yard scrum gave Buttel the opportunity to drive over for a well-taken try.

The effective combination of driving forward play and lightening pace in the backs resulted in Tavistock constantly battering the Tawton defence.

Shortly before half-time Hunt claimed his second try from one such attack and Bridgewater converted again.

The disappointing aspect for North Tawton was the ease with which Tavistock created simple overlaps, to leave the visitors trailing at half-time 31-0.

The second half saw North Tawton claim back a bit of pride, mainly in the shape of wing forward Kevin Avery and newly returned centre Cas Stoddard.

But further sin-binning — two for North Tawton and one for Tavistock — saw the visitors outnumbered and outplayed although restricting the second half score to two penalties.

Tavistock flanker Paul Williams was ubiquitous throughout, supporting the backs in attack and along with captain Matt Cole clearing up a lot of loose ball in open play.

With a lead of 34 points from the first half, Tavistock did not manage to extend their lead by much more in the second, adding only a Bridgewater penalty to their tally.

l This week Tavistock play league rivals, Honiton at Sandy Park.

l This Saturday North Tawton Firsts are looking for a home game while the seconds are away to Ilfracombe.