Devon Two League North Tawton 11 Ilfracombe 29 AN early penalty kick was converted by fly half Paul Fewings to give Tawton the lead. Ilfracombe recovered from this set back with some vigorous forward play which put the home pack under pressure. A chip over the top by Ilfracombe bounced deceptively and was missed by the Tawton defenders as Paul Prentice followed up and went through for Ilfracombe's first try, which was unconverted. The next chances came for North Tawton, again from penalties. A long-range attempt fell short but the second, stemming from a good drive by Dave Quick, was within range for Fewings to slot his second of the day and put Tawton 6-5 in the lead. Ilfracombe came back strongly again and Tawton's pack was being pushed back in the loose mauls. Good defensive play by centre Mike Symons and Tom Davis at full back helped to keep Ilfracombe out and when they tried for a penalty of their own the strong wind pushed the kick wide. The sustained pressure finally led to another penalty from a better position for Ilfracombe and this time Prentice was successful. Good attacking play by Tawton's number eight Neville Phillips took the game back to Ilfracombe and Tawton pinned them back to their five metre line. Unfortunately some weak passing gave away the chance of a score and the half time whistle went with the score still at 8-6 to Ilfracombe. In the second half Tawton went through a phase of giving away too many penalties for technical infringements in the loose play and Prentice was successful with two more kicks at goal to stretch Ilfracombe's lead to 14 – 6. North Tawton recovered with a better spell of play and a break by flanker Richard Yendell was supported well to take Tawton into the attack. The ball was spun wide to centre Phil Elkins who continued the move and off the second phase left wing Andy Poole received a perfect pass to sprint in for a well-worked try. The wind drifted the conversion wide, but Tawton were back in touch at 11-14 to Ilfracombe. Soon after that another good pass from a Tawton loose maul put second row Gary Dennis away down the right wing and he made territory before being hauled down. As the match progressed the Tawton squad began to tire and astute kicking by Ilfracombe used the wind well to keep the home side pinned back in their half. There was some excellent defensive work by Tawton and the whole team showed 100 per cent commitment. Another penalty was conceded to give Ilfracombe a further three points and in the last quarter of an hour they breached the home side's try line with a try wide out by winger Andrius Juknys and another for centre Jamie Mclintock. Only one of these was converted and pushed the score to 29-11 to Ilfracombe. That is how it remained at the final whistle and although the margin was big it did not reflect how well the whole team had played. All 15 deserved man of the match, although Richard Yendell, Neville Phillips, Gary Dennis, Tom Phillips and returning player Rob McBain in the second row were all prominent during the match.