Cup

North Tawton 9

New Cross 14

NORTH Tawton opened up their cup campaign with a narrow loss away to the Devon one side, New Cross. Being played over two legs, North Tawton will feel they have what it takes to upturn the four point deficit in the return fixture in two weeks' time.

Despite the higher opposition it was Tawton who dominated the majority of possession in the early exchanges. This served to unsettle the hosts as a series of infringements saw C Dennis strike the first points of the game with a well taken penalty on six minutes. A passage of stalemate followed as kicks were shared between Dennis and Wotton bringing the score to 6-3.

North Tawton lost Gibson to the sin bin on 25 minutes which welcomed debutant Baker joining the front row. This was the first of what was to be a number of yellow cards throughout the match, New Cross losing a further two players in the next 15 minutes.

The visitors were unable to cross the whitewash despite the player advantage but did come exceedingly close when the ever reliable M. Dennis created space for Sharp to break free and release Letherbridge, only for the last pass to be deemed a forward one. It remained 6-3 at half-time to North Tawton.

The second half was a different affair as New Cross rang the changes and brought on a number of 'man mountains' into the pack. This unsettled what was a dominate Tawton set piece and possession became more even. The home advantage became apparent as New Cross played the corners and slope pinning North Tawton back into their own 22. The pressure was absorbed for a lengthy period with Quick and Young notable in defence, but it was not before long that the extra pair of hands was found and Griffths went over for New Cross 8-6. North Tawton hit back immediately with another C Dennis penalty but this was short lived as another series of barbaric runs from the home team's pack saw another five points being scored. Further ill discipline saw two more yellow cards for New Cross players and one for the Tawton skipper Letherbridge for a deliberate knock down but once again the man advantage went amiss and the hosts could not be broken down as the game tensely finished 14-9 in favour of New Cross.