Tavistock 12 Falmouth 23 TAVISTOCK?S promotion hopes suffered a blow on Saturday when they lost at home to second place Falmouth at Sandy Park. This defeat leaves Tavistock five points adrift of the second promotion place with one game in hand. In addition to the defeat they also lost skipper Duncan Law less than twenty minutes into the game when Duncan suffered a broken cheek bone. This was a case of deja vu as Duncan fractured the same cheekbone in the corresponding fixture last season. The injury resulted in winger Sam Smerdon moving into the centre and Jude Rotton being forced to move out of position to wing. Tavistock started slowly and an unclaimed kick off allowed Falmouth to force a lineout deep in Tavistock territory. Falmouth kept up the pressure and were eventually rewarded with a penalty goal. Falmouth kept Tavistock on the back foot throughout the first half and scored three tries. The second half was a vastly different affair with Tavistock dominating amongst the forwards and taking the game to Falmouth. The first Tavistock score came from second row forward Andy Hunt who powered over after a sustained pressure. Josh Sutton converted from under the posts. Falmouth hit back with a second penalty from Jack Brown to extend their lead. As the game drew toward its conclusion Tavistock got their second try when scrum half Lee Greatrex took the ball from an attacking five metre scrum and dived into the corner. A case of too little too late as Tavistock?s poor first half performance had left them too much to do in the second half. This weekend Tavistock travel to Wellington in the Cornwall and Devon League. Kick off 2.30pm.