Tavistock RFC Thirds 29

Bude X-Men 20

BUDE brought a strong and experienced team to this match at Sandy Park last Saturday, but Tavistock were able to hold out despite being underdogs. 

Bude showed that position on the pitch rather than ball in hand pays dividends, taking an early lead due to a penalty kick in the first five minutes.

But Tavistock seemed to be controlling the game, even though they were behind, and when Stan Cinnamond jinked the Bude defence to run in virtually under the posts the match seemed to be in Tavistock's grasp.  But a simple defensive error saw Bude take the advantage and they were up 13-7 at half-time.

Tavistock captain Mike Grey's on the field half time talk seemed to do the trick as Tavistock were transformed in the second half. 

They hit hard with strong forward play from their second row, that  allowed their backs to set up two quick tries for new boy Seb Dix, who also converted his own scores. 

Tavistock's forwards became dominant to set the backs up for some classic play through the centres, allowing Jim Dunford (man of the match as selected by the X Men and referee) strong runs on the left wing. He scored two tries and on both occasions broke three tackles to force the ball into the scoring slot.

Bude were tenacious and bullish in the last 15 minutes. Their heavier, more experienced pack tried to gain some pride and fought doggishly. Tavistock fought on, despite losing a couple of key players through injury. 

In the last minutes Bude managed a consolation try.

But it was Tavistock's ability to change their game at half-time that actually won the match. Parts of their game were perfect teaching tools for youngsters with forwards dominating and creating spaces for the backs to run at. 

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