North Tawton 10 Exeter Saracens A 27 THE friendly was against a strong Saracens side and was used as a squad development game during a pause in the league fixtures. Appropriately it was played on the Centenary pitch at North Tawton, who celebrated their 120th anniversary with a dinner the preceding night. North Tawton made a good start, playing into the wind, but were soon under pressure from Saracens who took a long penalty and found touch close to Tawton's line. Tawton defended the line out well but were unable to break the attack despite some excellent tackling by Phil Elkins in the centre. A good passing sequence by Saracens' three quarters spread the Tawton defence and a final drive by Lee Sharland took him over in the corner for the visitors' first try after 10 minutes. It was not converted. Territory was regained for North Tawton after the restart by a neat chip and chase by right wing Ross Lawrence, taking his side to 10 metres from the opposition line. The Tawton pack were acquitting themselves well in the set pieces, with their front row trio of Peter Wonnacott, Adrian Pierce and Tom Phillips doing exceptionally well against big opposition. North Tawton's Paul Turner and Alfie May formed a useful back row partnership and forced two penalties close in. These were taken as tapped ball, the strong head wind making the kicking option unattractive, and to the credit of the visitors' defence Tawton could not cross the line. Saracens re-established some dominance soon after this with strong running by their threes. A flowing move culminated in a try for centre Darren Light, a promising young player graduating from the Colts side. This time the conversion by Bryan Logan was accurate and Saracens took a 12-nil lead. An optimistic Saracens attempt at a penalty from about 40 metres out went wide, but the follow up scrum on Tawton's 10 metre line led to a try for number eight Steve Wakeley as he rolled off the back of the scrum and drove over the line. A simple conversion was missed, taking the score to 17-nil to Saracens. Shortly before the half time break Tawton flanker Kevin Avery with a foot injury was replaced by Neville Phillips. Tawton were awarded a penalty on the half way line and their alert scrum half David Fewings tapped the ball and broke down the left wing, catching the opposition off guard. The covering full back almost cut him off at the corner but a side step took Fewings through for an excellent individual try; the conversion by Paul Fewings brought the scores to 7-17 to the visitors at half time. Following a number of substitutions at half time North Tawton put in some good work and a take and drive by the pack off a lineout took them within scoring range. They were penalised, however, and Saracens were able to clear. Shortly after Tawton had another opportunity but a well-struck penalty by full back Tom Davis drifted wide. They kept up the pressure on the visitors with a charged down kick and then another penalty chance was slotted from 25 metres by Ross Lawrence, now playing at fly half, and the score moved on to 10-17. Saracens started to show their strength. An excellent break out of defence by Darren Light was followed by a powerful run up the right hand touchline, fending off at least three tackle attempts and making it the full distance to score a fine try; this went unconverted and the score moved on to 22 points for the visitors. In the closing minutes Saracens mounted another attack through their impressive three quarter line and as they spread the play wide the North Tawton defence was split and flanker Martin Dibble sprinted through the gap to score the final points of the match. The North Tawton man of the match went to David Fewings.
