Western Counties West

Bude 22

Tavistock 39

AFTER a heavy defeat the week before Tavistock were given a boost for this trip to Bude with the return of five first team regulars and a debut selection for talented hooker Levent Bulut who has recently signed from Launceston.

The visting side started off the more dominant as they looked to move the ball along their backline to utilise the electric pace of Edwards, Hadfield and Luffman. Their dominance led to the first opportunity of the game, as the Tavistock forwards advanced up the field. The home side could not cope with the quick ball being generated. The ball was fired from scrum half Witcher to stand off Rich Goldsby West, who used his vision to find Lewis Edwards in a wide position; his pace and power was too much for the covering home defence as he sliced through to get the first points of the game; West slotted the conversion to put Tavistock 7-0 up.

An exchange of kicks enable Bude to set up their first attack of the game using their powerful full back but solid defence and commited tackling from flanker Josh Langton and centres Lloyd and Connor halted any potential inroads into their half.

The next score would come from the prolific Edwards; a 30 yard run from number eight Mark Friend put Tavistock in behind the home side's defence. Quick ball generated from Duncan Law and Andrew Griffiths allowed the backline to run from depth and work the ball to Edwards. With a handful of defenders still to beat he bounced off any challenge and crossed the line for his second try and although the conversion sailed wide it was 12-0 to the visitors.

The home side did not have any response. The physical defence and work at the breakdown from Tavistock's Schuttkaker and Law forced errors in their play. A knock on from Bude would lead to the next scoring opportunity; a scrum on the edge of the home side's 22 enabled Danny Luffman to stroll through to touch down under the posts; a simple conversion by West and the visitors were in control of the game at 19-0.

The strong start from the Moorlanders forced Bude to resort to keep the ball tight in possession, setting up a number of mauls to advance into the Tavistock half. This frustrated the vistors who conceded a penalty when trying to regain possession. A kick to the corner and from the line out Bude made a break through the Tavistock defence; they created another maul and powered over for their first try and an easy conversion to set the score at 19-7.

Tavistock responded immediately to secure their fourth bonus point try as they moved up the pitch with strong running from Josh O'Neill and Dom Connor. Quick ball again put Lewis Edwards away who fed fellow speedster Danny Luffman, who showed good strength to cross the line; a successful kick from West and Tavistock ended the half 26-7 up.

In the second half once again Tavistock started the stronger team, their aggressive defence put pressure on the home side's back line who struggled to make any ground. An error led to a Tavistock line out midway into the Bude half, the Tavistock set piece was accurate throughout the game with Levent Bulut and Andrew Schuttkaker functioning well.

Another training ground move stretched the home side defence and a perfectly weighted ball from West allowed Hadfield to storm through and touch down, the conversion was missed 31-7.

As the game advanced Bude were frustrated by the lack of opportunities; a quick break from Bude was covered well by Dan Luffman who found himself on the wrong side of the ruck and the referee awarded him a penalty and a yellow card. A tap and go from five yards out allowed their ex-Worcester prop to drive over and score, the conversion was missed 14-31.

Despite having one less man on the field Tavistock did not allow Bude to dominate. Good covering tackles from the young Ash Toll and physical play from substitute Steve Long broke up the home sides advances. A penalty was won on the half way line by Duncan Law providing Tavistock with the opportunity for a line out in the visitors' 22. Another wide move enabled Lewis Edwards once again to beat his opposite man and an inside ball to centre Doug Lloyd allowed him to stroll over for Tavistock's fifth try, an unconverted score and Tavistock held a comfortable lead at 12-36.

The home side began to get back into the game at this point and were being awarded a number of penalties and a powerful maul provided the platform for an unconverted try to make it 17-36 to Tavistock.

In the last 10 minutes, West slotted a penalty to take the visitors' lead to 17-39 and the game was comfortably won.

The final challenge for Tavistock was to keep out Bude from gaining a bonus point fourth try which they failed to do.

However, the final whistle was met with a huge cheer from Tavistock players, coaches and visiting supporters as they knew the importance of the result and positive performance.

After the game first team coach Mike Lewis said: 'Today I saw some of the best rugby I have seen at this fine club. The enthusiasm, the commitment and for long periods the class we showed was exceptional.'