Devon 1

Torrington 1st XV 3

Tavistock 1st XV 42

THE Tavistock camp knew this fixture would be a crucial victory if they are to remain in the top three of the league ? Tavistock, Honiton and Sidmouth were all unbeaten until this weekend and, to add to Tavistock?s determination, they had not won away at Torrington for ten years.

The game began nervously. There were a number of hurried passes and handling errors and the slope of the Torrington pitch and a strong wind uphill dictated play.

Tavistock were missing some key players, but the strength of the squad is shown by the quality of players like John Wakem, Jim Jeffries, Mike Kent and Darren Cole, who regularly slot back into the 1st XV.

Playing up the slope with the wind in the first half, fly half Chris Woods and full back, Josh Sutton, began to kick the ball upfield, pinning Torrington in their own half.

The Tavistock forwards started to present the backs with quick, clean ball. The backs used their strength and pace to devastating effect and Tavistock began to take control.

A forced error gave Sutton the chance to slot his first penalty kick and Woods was first to score a try just minutes later.

Centre Rob Weldon cut through the defence, giving Woods enough room to show his pace and a clean set of heels to the Torrington players. Sutton converted.

The Tavistock side knew they would have to work hard to keep Torrington from any period of possession, enabling their forwards to go on the marauding runs of which they are capable.

Tavistock showed no signs of letting up. Scrum half Gareth Mason broke time and again from the back of set pieces, opening up the field for the backs.

Weldon saw a gap and, again, crashed through to score himself. Sutton converted and kicked over a penalty soon afterwards from the halfway line.

Torrington lacked commitment in tackles and were unable to cope with the running rugby Tavistock are developing. Centre Mike Lyddon ran in his third try in two matches and Tavistock were 25 points up at half-time with Torrington yet to score.

The conditions dictated a slight shift in the balance of play during the second half, although Torrington only once came close to scoring a breakaway try. On that occasion, the Tavistock defenders drifted across to cancel out the attack and countered with plenty of pace in support.

Torrington did slot a penalty but Sutton reciprocated almost immediately and Tavistock began to use the slope more effectively, especially when they managed to keep Torrington pinned down in the bottom corner.

The tries began to stream in again, with Mike Kent having already shown his pace on a number of occasions, running in a great individual effort, and another well deserved try each for Weldon and Woods.

In two weeks Tavistock face Honiton away in the biggest clash in the league so far this season.