Devon 1

Tavistock 41

Tamar Saracens 13

TAVISTOCK notched their second league win in a row on Saturday, in an impressive display of running rugby.

Saracens opened the scoring, kicking a penalty in the opening minutes. Saracens, mindful of their cup defeat at the hands of the Tavistock team earlier in the season, played with typical aggression and determination.

Tavistock always looked the stronger team, though, and a try in their favour put them in the lead, when Eel Evans crossed the line. Bridgewater, after a honeymoon start in the 1st XV last week, uncharacteristically missed the conversion from in front of the posts.

Saracens were soon after to be awarded a try, in an absurd decision. Tavistock, under pressure on their own line, set the ball back in a ruck and the referee, confused by the similarity in shirt colours, gave a try to the home side when they did not have a man near the ball. Saracens converted and Tavistock were behind again.

Tavistock were quick to gain the upper hand again, though, and did so scoring a remarkable southern hemisphere-style try. The ball was spun from a scrum on the halfway line and travelled through the hands of all the backs.

Tackled short of the line, the forwards rucked effectively and the ball came back along the three-quarter line again. As the attack neared the opposition line, nimble hooker Rob Sleep dashed through the defence to score.

Bridgewater missed the conversion, but managed a penalty kick just before half-time, when Tavistock led 13-10.

In the second half, Tavistock rampaged over the flagging Saracens.

Evans was again the one to open the scoring, which he did in style, chipping the ball over several defenders and collecting it on the line, to dive over for the score. Bridgewater converted a difficult kick, signposting a return to his kicking form.

Scrum half Sean Buttle was next to score, when Andy Hunt stole a Saracens' lineout ball, feeding it to Buttle, who showed devastating pace to score. Only minutes later Paul Williams collected a well timed pass from fellow flanker, Will Thompkins, to score again. Bridgewater converted both efforts at goal.

Sean Buttle showed that he is going to be a force to be reckoned with at scrum half when he finished the scoring with a fantastic display of individual skills to score one of the best tries seen this season. The ball shot out from the back of a Saracens' scrum on the halfway line and Buttle scooped it from under the nose of his opposite man.

The scrum half sped through the majority of the Saracens' team to score full-stretch in a tackle between the posts.

After the game, captain Matt Cole made no effort to hide his delight at a well-deserved win.

Vice-captain Paul Allen, who has been at the backbone of the defence in every game this season, said: 'Commitment at training, combined with determination and flair finally brought a result worthy of this exciting Tavistock team.'