Tribute Devon two league
North Tawton 10
Ilfracombe 8
A STRONG start by Ilfracombe kept North Tawton Rugby Club pinned back in their own half for much of the early phases and it was only thanks to good defending, notably by Rob McBain at flanker that the visitors were unable to score.
North Tawton looked out of sorts and it was only a matter of time before Ilfracombe found a way through. This came from a chip over the heads of the defenders by scrum half Louis Morgan-Russell, he collected the bouncing ball and ran in for a try to the visitors but the conversion was missed.
North Tawton began to get into the game and Ilfracombe were penalised several times for going over the top and not rolling away — from a resulting penalty Tawton's David Fewings kicked overl from 35 metres.
From the restart poor handling by North Tawton gave the initiative back to Ilfracombe with a scrum 10 metres from Tawton's line. The Tawton pack were penalised for kicking the ball back into the scrum; Ilfracombe opted for the penalty kick and fly half Will Grant converted to make it 8-3 at half time in favour of the North Devon side.
Tawton's full back Lawrence McKone sustained another injury and he was replaced by Matt Weekes.
Tawton centre Johnny Grayling was also injured and he was replaced by Steve King. North Tawton staged a mini recovery but could not capitalise on some good forward play as the ball was lost in the tackles and they gave away some crucial penalties.
The half time break was extended by the arrival of the Devon Air Ambulance. Fortunately it was decided the injury to Grayling did not require an airlift but it is reassuring to have such an excellent service on hand. North Tawton supports the charity whole-heartedly.
North Tawton came out for the second half well fired up and they drove Ilfracombe off their scrum ball again and gained penalty decisions against the visitors. From one of these David Fewings took a quick tap and managed to wrestle his way through the defence for a try. This was converted by himself to take Tawton into a 10-8 lead.
It was now the turn of Ilfracombe to stage a comeback and they took play back into the Tawton half. Once again the Tawton scrum got the upper hand in the set scrums and some good loose play pushed the attackers back.
The Tawton front row of Pete Wonnacott, Alfie May and Tom Phillips must take a lot of credit, with Wonnacott also doing some good work cleaning up in the line outs.
Play became scrappy as both sides tired but Tawton hate to lose at home and it was this determination that gave them the advantage in the final minutes and they hung on to win 10-8.